If You Only Knew
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: No one knew who Lal Mirch was before she joined COMSUBIN, and that's just how she liked it. Living with PTSD from the war was hard, but she managed. Except she never could have expected one of her own students would find a way past the thorns around her heart. Her past comes to haunt her when she attempts to escape her growing feelings.
1. Chapter 1

The first time he saw her, he thought she was an angel sent from heaven. Something that made his fellow trainees laugh, until they realized he was dead serious.

Especially after a week of the Commander's "Special Training Session", aka the Week From Hell for everyone.

Lal Mirch was a no nonsense woman who didn't accept back talk or whining, but when they actually did something right she was equally quick to praise them. And they could tell it was _real_ praise.

She was a total hard ass, according to the others, but there was something about her that made it hard for them to complain too much. Sure, she didn't accept excuses unless they were damn good ones, but unlike the other instructors when she asked for your best, it was because she genuinely believed you were capable of it.

And when she smiled... dear god that smile alone would have made him work twice as hard just to see it again.

Most of his fellow trainees had long since lost their crush on their rather hot instructor beaten out of them. Lal Mirch was too professional to allow a brief fling ruin her career and theirs, and was far too pleased to make sure they damn well knew it.

In the end, only Colonello lasted an entire month with her and opted to stay under her command, rather than transfer out the first chance he had.

Most of his fellow trainees had jumped ship the second they could, because Lal Mirch was one of the hardest instructors on base. If you survived her you could survive damn near anything thrown at you. Or at least have a damn good reason not to screw up, because she would be on you like white on rice.

Her slaps _hurt_ , but they were full of love, as she almost joked.

It was debatable whether the woman even _had_ a sense of humor under that prickly exterior.

* * *

"So this is the trainee who survived and decided to stick with it? Got some balls on him, or perhaps he's too stupid to pick a new instructor," joked Greg. He was another instructor.

As the lone student under Lal Mirch's _personal_ supervision, Colonello was being given the rare opportunity to join in on a training exercise he would normally have to wait a few years for. It was something the higher ups did to keep their own skills sharp. That and to get away from the whiny "brats" that had just started.

Colonello grinned at the man, his very posture loose, but still respectful.

He didn't complain once as he hauled most of the tents (he was the rookie, after all) up the mountain. At least Lal let him take a few minutes to recover with some water.

It wasn't until nightfall that they ran into a snag.

Namely that the only tent with enough room to house the _extra_... was Lal Mirch.

Colonello wondered why the older instructors suddenly looked rather panicked. It wasn't like he'd take advantage of her, after all.

Finally Greg put one arm around Colonello and told him with a dead serious expression.

"Son, I'm only going to tell you this once. There's no shame in sleeping outside."

Colonello eyes the clouds above, which looked like rain.

"I think I'll take my chances," he said jovially.

He didn't realize what the actual problem was until around three in the morning, when the storm outside was raging quite loudly. No way in hell was he sleeping outside in that!

He noticed Lal was sitting up, eyes unfocused and perfectly still. At first he thought she was awake for some reason, until he saw it. With a crack of lightning, there was the unmistakable movement of her trying to gut someone with a knife she didn't have. There was a silent snarl, and suddenly he had an epiphany of why the older man told him there was no shame in sleeping outside with this weather.

Lal had PTSD. A severe case of it, from what he could tell. She couldn't tell friend from foe and would attack anything that got in her way.

He heard rumors that some days she became as territorial and vicious as an enraged Cloud, but he had no idea this was what they meant.

Colonello wasn't stupid. If he got near her in this state, she was sure to attack him without even realizing it. However there was so much pain on her face that there was no way he could just leave her like this.

So with slow, exaggerated movements, he cautiously got out of his sleeping bag. He made sure Lal saw what he was about to do and was slow enough that not even her trapped mind would register him as a threat. Once he was close enough, h wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.

Lal snarled... and struggled a bit inside his arms. He didn't let go, and he gradually released his hold on his Flames. It was part of the reason he had been recommended to COMSUBIN in the first place.

There was a brief moment when Lal started to really panic, and he frowned. Rain Flames were supposed to bring tranquility, which calmed people down.

Yet the way she reacted, it was as if he was attacking her.

He let go of his Flames and just held her tight. The rain began to let up, and when it did he noticed she was starting to relax in his arms. Colonello made sure to keep a loose grip around her. She could easily escape, but at the same time he was comforting her.

There was a choked sob, and she almost started crying. Colonello didn't let up, but he felt relief when she slowly fell back asleep. He didn't crawl back into his own sleeping bag until he was sure she wouldn't fall back into another episode. It felt nice, holding her in his arms.

By morning, she wasn't the only one exhausted. So was he.

"I take it she had another episode?" asked Greg tiredly.

Colonello stared at him.

"You knew?"

"Of course we knew! Trying to keep our skills sharp is just the excuse we give the rookies and the idiots not in the know! It's easier to take her out here where she can break down in peace around people who understand than to scare the rookies off," said Greg offended.

Well, that made a lot more sense than having a mini vacation.

"Why haven't the higher ups treated it?"

"We've _tried_. She refuses to become dependent on medication and despite her episodes it doesn't actually hinder her professional life. It just makes her beyond a nightmare to deal with. Honestly, we were more surprised that she never had an episode during those times of the month," said Greg irritably.

"So how do they last?"

"She didn't attack you did she?"

He was quick to shake his head.

"Any idea why she freaked out over Flames?"

Greg winced. He knew the guy was a Rain, but using Flames when she was in the middle of an episode was damn near suicide... especially when it involved flaring.

According to her medical records, she had heavy flame scars on her soul. None but the most hardened Suns could go near her with their Flames because the sheer amount of damage done to her soul was so bad it made them violently ill. And that was _before_ her aversion to healing kicked in.

Honestly it was easier for everyone involved to bring her out of the training grounds to get her Cloud instincts out in a safe setting with trained professionals. PTSD in a Flame User, especially someone who had such a strong Cloud secondary was serious.

Clouds were bad enough on a good day. Adding in such stress was a recipe for nothing but a monumental disaster.

Lal looked rather... confused, to say the least. Like she _knew_ she had an episode, but for some reason wasn't feeling the way she usually did about it.

"Good sleep?"

"Hardly, that damn lightning woke me up."

The next night was the same, except this time Colonello came prepared. He was a little bit closer to his teacher when she jolted up. Once again, he slowly made his way to her side of the tent, and made sure she saw him when he wrapped his arms around her.

He felt her tense, but this time she didn't try to fight him like before. Then again he didn't make the mistake of using his Flames this time.

He just sat there, letting her get used to his arms around her, holding her tight.

Her breathing patterns evened out after half an hour, and she slowly started to nod back off to real sleep. Her head bumped into his chest, and he heard the softest snore.

It was nice, holding the "demon instructor" in his arms like this. He doubted anyone else had the brains to think of just holding her when she had an episode.

The other instructors had a good idea, getting her away from all those active Flames, but they didn't try to cut off her pain at the source. Her nightmares.

By morning Colonello could tell Lal was actually _rested_ for once.

Greg was eyeing her oddly, and by extension him.

"Okay, I'll bite. How the hell did you cut it off?" asked Greg baffled. By this point Lal Mirch was usually undergoing some nasty Cloud tendencies and driving her friends and colleagues up the wall.

This time though, she seemed only slightly exhausted, but not biting their heads off.

"Uh, cut what off?"

"Don't play coy with me. She's _always_ in fight or die mode by this point. There's a reason we schedule our outings around her panic attacks."

Colonello looked very sheepish.

"I hugged her."

"You... hugged her."

"Yeah, I made sure she saw what I was doing and just held her while she started panicking. Once she realized I was a new element it seemed to help," said Colonello helplessly.

"Son of a bitch! Why didn't we think of that?!" said Greg annoyed. Seriously, how did they not think of that?

"Considering you did admit that you sparred with her during her episodes, she might not react well to you."

Lal was one hell of a strong woman, and he didn't think she'd be this traumatized by anything short of being in a war. It certainly explained why she went in the military... she probably hoped being around other soldiers would make it easier, or at least keep people from asking about her habits.

The fact she let him get that close and didn't really fight him when he held her through the nightmares was a good sign. It meant she didn't register him as a threat, though she would definitely be pissed if she realized what he was doing while awake.

By the end of the week, it had become very clear that Colonello was either the bravest man on the planet, getting near the demon trainer when she was having an episode when she wasn't awake enough to register who was holding her, or he was some sort of idiot savant.

At least he figured out that if he increased his Flames by small increments, instead of a steady rise, that Lal wouldn't react so badly to being around them. She knew how to use her Flames, but she didn't like being around anyone who was active. At all.

* * *

"You're a hundred years too early to pick me up!" said Lal irate.

It had been almost two months since she had a panic attack, and she was edgy. She didn't like it when her routine got disrupted, especially something as dangerous as one of her episodes.

And yes, she knew perfectly well why they went to the mountains ever couple of months and it had nothing to do with _training_. It was pretty damn obvious when her presence at the hike was made mandatory by the higher ups.

She was a good soldier, a damn good trainer and she was above all a professional. Three things that any military would love.

If not for that minor incident when that idiot flared near her and revealed her PTSD, she might have been promoted even further. Instead she was stuck as a trainer, not that she cared.

She had found her place after her hellish childhood, and she liked where she was now. This was her home.

Colonello merely laughed off the slap to the head. He was the only one brave (read: suicidal to everyone else) enough to remain under her personal supervision, when any other soldier would have transferred out.

And he never hid his interest in her, far from it. The cheesy pick up lines were beyond ridiculous, and the less said about his flirting the better.

Then again he was the only human on the base who consistently kept bothering her about dates, when most gave up after a few months of her "winning" personality.

Generally speaking people didn't like having to wade through god knows how many thorns just to make a connection with someone.

"Get slapped again, Colonello?" laughed his fellow trainees. Colonello didn't even bat an eye.

"Aw, you know she loves me!" he laughed back. Which only set Lal off.

Not that he minded. He could tell she was instinctively pulling her punches so that while he might end up a little bruises, she wouldn't seriously hurt him. His ego would take a hit, but underneath her prickly exterior she was a total softy who loved her students.

After all he had seen her punch a concrete block into powder once with her Cloud flames. If she really wanted to hurt him she'd kick his ass and he'd be unable to stop it.

Besides... he could see past the veil of raven black (almost dark blue with the way the sun hit it) hair to see her monumental blush. She was so cute when she was embarrassed.

"Oi! Dumbass! She done beating you yet! We have an assignment for you!" shouted Greg.

Lal kicked him in the ass to the older man's direction, then went off to torture...er, _train_ some of the stronger rookies.

Seeing grown men cry at the mere sight of her being annoyed was great. It made her wonder how her old potions teacher would have reacted if he could see her now.

Snape wouldn't know what hit him, and she barely refrained from her more evil cackling.

She'd save it for when she brought out the robotic bees. Expensive as hell to buy, but just as good as the real thing without the irritation of a potential lawsuit from allergic reactions.

Ah, the sound of grown men screaming in fear of her was music to her ears...


	2. Chapter 2

Colonello looked at the piece of paper with some confusion.

"I'm confused. Is this a promotion or something else?"

Greg snorted.

"The higher ups noticed that since Lal took you on, her episodes are either decreasing or at least starting to calm down a little. Enough that her Cloud flames aren't reacting so violently when she has one."

Colonello blinked. All he did was hold her when he realized she had woken up from one of her bad memories, and carefully let his flames wrap around her.

She seemed to be acclimating herself to them, at least to the point she didn't freak out when he used them.

"So from this point on you're assigned as her permanent partner, at least until whatever it is you're doing no longer works! After all, we can't lose the best trainer on the base!" said Greg proudly.

And even her fellow trainers acknowledged her as the best. Her students _never_ died doing something monumentally stupid, and they got the job done come hell or high water!

"Where is the Captain anyway?"

"It's her day off, so she's probably there," said Greg.

"There?"

Greg wrote down an address.

"This is a popular children's park. I heard there was a demon that lives in the trees there that keeps anything worse than a minor pickpocket from entering, or else they're devoured," deadpanned Colonello.

Greg smirked.

"Who did you think the demon was? Lal always goes there on her days off to relax. Hell if I know why. But if you don't believe me, go see for yourself. The kids love her...even if she does have a weird habit of sleeping in trees."

Colonello stared. Then a slow grin came on his face.

"Now this I have to see! The Captain with kids or sleeping in a tree like a cat!" he said laughing. He grabbed his jacket and headed for one of the nearby bikes.

Being assigned as Lal's minder wasn't too bad. Even if he had no idea what it entailed.

* * *

When he reached the park, he had to admit it was beyond peaceful. There wasn't any way one of her panic attacks would be triggered in a place like this. Still, he remembered the odd advice Greg gave him and kept his eyes upward, once he dismissed her being near the kids.

After about ten minutes, he found her.

How in the hell did she get that high up? There weren't any branches close and he didn't see a ladder or signs of a grappling hook on the branch!

Still... she looked really peaceful up there. And he could tell she was sleeping for real, not the light meditation that she used to fake it.

He could either go up there and disturb her... or he could wait down below and enjoy the afternoon.

Screw it, he intended to take a nap, and anyone stupid enough to try and steal his bike was clearly asking for it. Besides, no one was going to be able to disable all the trackers those stupid things had on them. So like a rather lazy cat, Colonello stretched out below the tree, and leaned against the trunk.

He woke up to find someone's boots on his stomach and a bruise already forming.

"What the hell are you doing here?" growled Lal.

"I was napping," he grumbled.

She glared at him, but there was no time for her to berate her idiot student because the children on the playground honed in on her like sharks to blood.

"Big sister!"

Colonello grinned as he saw the small children swarm Lal, and her just taking it without yelling.

He noticed the mothers and the odd father watching with equal amusement, and found it odd that none of them were wary of their kids being so close to a stranger. At least until one of the more wary mothers approached him.

"Are you a friend of Lal?"

Colonello blinked.

"She's my teacher. Didn't know she was so popular with kids."

The mother smiled. It was as if his answer put any fear she had at ease.

"Lal Mirch is the reason we can bring our children to this park without fear. The last time a predator tried to watch our little ones, she went and had a 'talk' and he was never heard from again. And she protects even protects some of our more...damaged... friends if their spouses happen to try and stir up trouble."

Colonello could read between the lines of that.

Lal had clearly disposed of the pervert and acted as the defender of the abused women or the odd husband. No wonder they felt so relaxed around her.

"What about the tree thing though?"

Because wasn't that inspiring dangerous behavior?

"Everyone has their quirks," shrugged the mother, returning to her friends. Probably to tell them who he was.

Something in the group relaxed. Clearly he had passed some sort of unofficial test.

So he decided to nurse his bruise and pulled out one of his water bottles to watch Lal being swarmed by kids.

It was ridiculously entertaining, and she was rather good with them. She was clearly relaxed and somewhat enjoying herself.

Alas, like all good things it had to end. Namely when the kids started to get hungry around dinner time.

Which was when Lal turned to her errant student with a cross expression on her face.

"Why are you here?"

"I got a new assignment," said Colonello.

Lal tensed. It was clear on her face that she was afraid he was being reassigned to someone else. Though she would never admit it, she was fond of the annoying blond.

Colonello calmly removed the paper he had been given and handed it to her. Her face went through a myriad of emotions, but the one that stood out the most was shocked fury.

" _A minder?!"_ she nearly shrieked.

What in god's name were her superiors thinking, assigning this idiot as her _minder_? He was her student, for magic's sake!

Colonello looked sheepish, but fortunately they were in public so Lal wouldn't hit him.

But she was clearly pissed off about this news.

She took a deep calming breath, before dragging him out of the park. Her face was positively furious.

When they were relatively alone and far from any prying civilian or mafioso hearing them, she rounded on him.

"Explain!" she barked. He straightened out of habit.

"The higher ups noticed that since you took me on your PTSD hasn't been as active as before. So they decided that because I seem to have a calming effect on whatever caused your trauma, that I'm your new partner. At least until whatever it is I'm doing no longer works."

Lal narrowed her eyes at him.

"'Whatever it is you've been doing'?" she repeated dangerously.

Colonello winced.

"You know all those time I was dragged along with you and the other trainers into the mountains for a week? The one where they were really relieved to have me share a tent with you?" he asked slowly.

"Rookie..." she growled.

"It not what you think!" he said quickly. "All I ever do is wake up when you're having a flashback, and make sure you don't take me as a threat! I hold you until you fall back asleep!"

Her face twitched.

"YOU WHAT?!" she nearly shrieked.

Colonello only barely fended off her slaps. She still held back a lot, but it was clear she was absolutely pissed off.

Finally he did what he always did when he saw her having a panic attack. He wrapped his arms around her like steel bands until she calmed down.

Lal struggled, but at the same time she felt _safe_. Secure. Like she knew she could trust the blond idiot not to hurt her.

It took some fast talking, but eventually she calmed down enough not to try and strangle him.

Of course she had to resist the same urge not more than a few hours later when she found the idiot in her room. He looked just as confused as she was, and her entire face was twitching with barely restrained fury.

"Rookie, what are you doing in _here?"_ she growled.

Seeing him flinch, he decided he might as well get the pain over with.

"I was redirected from my barracks in here by the commander in charge of trainees. He said my room assignment had been changed. I didn't know it was your room!" he replied.

Lal was beyond pissed.

"Stay. Touch anything and you will die in the most painful manner I can possibly devise while lacking sleep and coffee," she growled.

Colonello sat down on the chair and did not move. Because Lal forgot to close the door, he could clearly hear the screams of pain, agony and cries for mercy.

There was none, and Lal came back looking frustrated but thankfully without the hint of bloodlust she had whenever she was really, really pissed off. He wisely averted his eyes from the blood on her fists and shirt.

"It seems the higher ups were dead serious about you being my permanent partner," she said with a growl. He was very, very glad he wasn't the subject of her rage. "So much so that they've reassigned you to share my personal room. I will only warn you once... if you push me too far I will _end_ you."

"Yes ma'am!" he said quickly. Even he wasn't stupid enough to piss her off right now.

Regardless of how angry she was over the new arrangement, nothing really changed outside of her being forced to interact with her idiot student in a more...personal...setting than she was happy with.

* * *

Colonello, for the most part, picked up on the unspoken rules pretty fast... if only to avoid having his head bitten off by an irate Lal Mirch.

A week after the room change and his new assignment, he woke up to find Lal having one of her panic attacks. He didn't think twice... he went to her side of the room and hugged her close.

What he didn't realize was that this wasn't like her usual attacks... this time she was actually _aware_ of her surroundings.

"Colonello..."

The blond blinked. She never really said much, let alone made any noises that he could understand when she got like this.

"What in god's name are you doing?" she hissed.

She was tense, like an arrow at the edge of being fired from a bow and ready to rip him a new one if he didn't explain himself.

He didn't really think about why he did it. He just let his iron control over his Flames go and wrap themselves around her.

"Shh... go back to sleep captain," he said gently, holding her tighter.

Lal tensed for a few seconds, before slowly relaxing. It had nothing to do with the Rain flames wrapping around her like a blanket, and everything to do with the way she could feel her annoying student acting like an anchor for her memories.

Right here, right now, there was something _real_ she could focus on instead of her ever present nightmares of her failure. Of the memories of all those she had lost, because she hadn't been strong enough to save those she treasured.

She fought the urge to cry. She had lost any tears for the past a long time ago, and she wouldn't show weakness in front of her student.

Feeling his arms around her helped to ease the guilt and pain she had carried with her since that thrice-damned war ended.

She never regretted leaving, not once.

Lal didn't even realize when she fell asleep. Just that for the first time in a long time she didn't fear the nightmares that haunted her.

Waking up with Colonello's face so close to hers, sleeping peacefully and still wrapped firmly around her, she resisted the urge to blush.

He was handsome, even she wouldn't deny that. But she'd be damned if she let her idiot student think this meant she would date him. She had her professional pride!

Seeing his blue eyes open with a smile, Lal growled.

Colonello laughed the entire time she kicked him out of the bed, throwing her pillows at him while yelling profanities.

She couldn't let anyone get too close. The hurt from that war was still so fresh and vivid in her mind... as was the fact that the one who lost the most from it was her.

Her parents.

Her childhood.

Her school years.

Her godfather.

Her favorite uncle and her cousin, his wife.

Her friendship with the two that had carried her so far, only to fall apart when she needed them the most.

Her surrogate family, almost broken at the seams because they were hers.

Her _life_.

She never forgot the pain of dying, even if she was brought back. She had never been whole to begin with, and she couldn't bear the thought of bringing someone who shined so brightly into her screwed up excuse for a life.

She could never forgive herself if, by letting him inside her heart, she ended up losing him like she lost so many.

She couldn't bear the thought of it.

Good thing the showers were free... no one would see her crying, trying to hide her pain.

When she stepped out, her wall of thorns was firmly in place and the demon trainer was ready to tackle another day.


	3. Chapter 3

**Some people are complaining that I am not characterizing PTSD correctly. I would like to point out a few things if I may.**

 **Lal in this story is VERY good at hiding her condition because she's been "trained" to hide when things aren't alright and has a habit of compartmentalizing until things blow up in her face. She is also away from the majority of things that would trigger a major episode. So long as she has something to anchor herself to, she's stable. However if that is removed she will snap and take everything out with her.**

 **I don't mean to make light of a serious condition or to offend those who have PTSD. If it seems I have done so, I apologize.**

* * *

How did he do this to her? How did her annoying and persistent student worm past her defenses so easily? How could he always tell when she needed an anchor to be there, when her memories decided to remind herself of her failure?

On the outside, Lal was very much her usual self.

Inside, she was tormented by the slow shift of her relationship with the persistent blond.

Every time her memories clawed their way to the surface, when her defenses were weak, she found him there. A solid rock she could cling to in the maelstrom of her flashbacks.

He never said a word. He accepted her false rage at being caught so vulnerable by her student. He never complained about her 'attacks' whenever he annoyed her.

She was falling in love and it terrified her to her core.

So when she got a mysterious invitation that made her very suspicious, she leaped on the chance to try and escape her growing feelings for the blond soldier who wouldn't leave her alone.

* * *

In retrospect, trying to run away from her feelings for Colonello probably wasn't a smart move. Just being this close to other Flame users who had a habit of flaring made her repress her flinching. Thankfully the room was dark enough to hide most of her reaction.

This entire thing reeked of a set up, but between an unknown adventure almost certain to bite her in the ass, or her budding feelings for her student, her choice was clear.

Hell, she hadn't acted like a proper Gryffindor (read: 'brave' to the point of being stupid) in over seven years. She was overdue for this sort of nonsense.

It wasn't too bad. The other flames were professionals at least...well, most of them.

Skull was so obviously a civilian that had been tapped, that it wasn't even funny. And the others knew it.

Renato seemed to decided that as the civilian, Skull was now his new source of stress release.

Lal had enough after she heard Skull groan in pain from one of Renato's kicks to his ribs.

If he hadn't broken (or at least sprained) one of his ribs, then she was no judge of abuse.

Snarling, she stalked up like an angry dragon behind Renato as he went to kick Skull again for some minor infraction.

She had to live with over ten years of similar abuse because an old man's delusions. She refused to stand by and watch the same just because this arrogant Sun was a self-entitled asshole.

Hearing the gun click behind his head, Reborn slowly turned to find a very pissed off Lal Mirch ready to shoot him.

"Leave him alone right now, or I'll happily blow your fucking brains out," she snarled.

Renato would swear on his mother's grave that there was an after image of a _dragon_ behind her when she said that.

H backed away from the downed Skull and kept his hands in full view.

Lal helped Skull up and then hunted down the first aid kit. She shot the others a look of absolute disgust because none of them thought to stop Renato from hurting the Cloud.

There was a definite bruise on his side for sure, and she only saw some Tylenol packets in the kit.

Then she felt someone press a jar next to her head. It was Fon, the Storm.

"I carry this for the odd accident when I practice," he said by way of explanation.

If that wasn't Bruise Balm, she'd eat her own gun. She nodded gratefully and promptly spread it on Skull's side with an experienced hand, before bandaging it.

"Keep that on for at least an hour, and be sure to wash it off once the bruise is no longer visible," she told him curtly.

Skull nodded, though he held in his tears of pain rather well.

"Thanks," he said.

"I fucking hate assholes who abuse others for their own amusement. It makes me rather murderous," she said, glaring at Renato with such a dark expression he flinched.

Her job done, she handed the jar back to Fon. It disappeared into his sleeves.

* * *

She was rather happy to return back to work, at least until the next "assignment".

Colonello, however, was rather pissed.

And the reason was simple enough. After seeing Renato so casually beat the crap out of Skull simply because he could, it dredged up multiple memories of her own childhood. So much so that Colonello refused to let her sleep alone, since it only brought up flashbacks that would have left her screaming otherwise. Or at least whimpering from repressed memories.

"Seriously Lal, what exactly happened?" he asked in concern.

"It's nothing, idiot student!" she told him, irate. She refused to let those _creatures_ control her life, not after she managed to start rebuilding it.

Colonello wouldn't budge from where he was holding her. He was not happy.

Her normal episodes were bad enough. She was only dangerous if you approached her wrong, as he had discovered.

But whatever happened at that meeting was something else entirely. He had never seen _fear_ on her face during a flashback. Her usual response of "Fight or die" had shifted to "flight or endure".

The fact she actually WHIMPERED during the flashback was what alarmed him the most though.

Lal rarely, if ever, made a sound during one of her episodes. Almost like she had trained herself not to. For her to actually whimper like she was terrified of something?

That pissed him off, and he itched to shoot whoever made her that scared.

Lal couldn't look him in the eye. That was another major warning in his head.

Lal _never_ lied to him and she always faced her demons head on.

But whatever this was, it had scarred her so deeply that she hid in shame.

He had heard rumors, about how she must have had an abusive ex-boyfriend or something and that was why she was such a hard ass. It wasn't that uncommon and she did have lingering scars from a very hard past.

Colonello wanted very much to shoot whoever hurt Lal like this. Sadly he had no targets and a terrified captain in his arms.

So he slowly increased the normal dosage of Flames around her until the room was practically saturated in it.

Thank god for Rain flames. He'd rather see her out cold from an overdose of the blue fire than trembling from demons only see could see.

* * *

She didn't know whether to love these escapes from her life, or hate them. One thing was for sure... Renato made very, very certain he never harassed Skull in front of her again. The fact she damn near gelded him for it when he thought she wasn't looking was warning enough.

Strangely this seemed to endear her to the Storm and the Mist. Skull certainly had no complaints and made a point to stick close to Lal whenever Renato was in a mood.

Their missions were interesting enough, though she started to get anxious if they took longer than a week.

She hadn't realized how much she had grown to depend on Colonello to keep her flashbacks away at night. Perhaps her superiors had the right idea, shoving him on her as a minder.

"You alright?" asked Fon with concern. "You're rather pale."

"I'm fine."

She wasn't, but that was her standard response to this sort of inquiry. To hold back the concern so she could get her job done and crash after. It was what she specialized in.

Fon didn't look convinced for a minute, but held his silence. After all, just because they performed these missions didn't mean they knew anything about her.

She was relieved when the assignment was over. She didn't care about the money, she never did. Between her savings and the inheritance she never actually touched, she could have retired right then and there and lived off it.

But she would have been bored out of her skull within a week.

Colonello said nothing, but the fact she didn't argue when he wrapped his arms around her so she could sleep said volumes. She was used to this by now.

But he wasn't going to let this rest. The next time he found out she was leaving for an "assignment" he decided to act.

He made a list of warning signs and his phone number explaining her condition. With any luck it would fall out of her pocket or someone would notice it before something terrible happened.

Skull was the one to notice the odd paper in her back pocket, and filched it. He might not be the strongest or the smartest on the team, but he could at least pick a pocket.

Considering the placement he suspected she had no idea it was even there.

Needless to say he rather cursed his curiosity when he realized what he had in his hands. Suddenly a lot of things made sense and he really wished they didn't line up with what he already knew to watch for.

Skull kept his silence. If the others knew about this they would almost certainly try to get rid of Lal and she was the only one who actively defended him from them.

"What do you have there?" asked Fon.

"Nothing!" he said quickly. However Fon was much faster than he was.

He read the paper and his eyes face went blank.

"I see. This explains far too much."

"I don't want that jerk Renato to kick her out," said Skull, looking like a kicked puppy.

"It's our secret, at least until something happens and we have to call the number," said Fon.

If Lal took note of the way the two were observing her in silence, she said nothing.

* * *

For the most part, things remained normal. They were given missions, they went out and performed to the best of their ability, and they got paid.

And then something happened.

"Who is Lilac Athena Potter?" said Fon curious.

"Why are we being paid to locate a woman who disappeared more than eight years ago?" asked Viper crossly.

It was taking everything she had not to scream. Why?! Why was this checkerfaced bastard sending them after her?!

"You know her?" asked Renato.

Before Viper could respond, Lal spoke first.

"Lilac Athena Potter, aka the 'Witch-Who-Survives', aka 'Destroyer of Dark Lords', aka 'Mistress of Death'. Disappeared over eight years ago, went completely off the map and hasn't been heard from since. Only presumed alive because the vaults are still active and no children have been found with her bloodline. Known as a proficient battle mage and has one hell of a temper when provoked."

Everyone stared at her.

She blushed.

"I'm a fan, alright? Anyway if we're going to try and track her down it might be better to see where her old childhood home was," said Lal.

"That's not public record and it would require breaking into their Ministry," said Viper.

"Actually it is. When she was fifteen she was falsely charged with using magic in front of normal people, but she got off because of a technicality. On the trial documents they clearly stated she lived in Little Whinging, Surrey," said Lal.

All true without telling them anything.

Renato smirked.

"Well since you seem to know so much about her, you get to lead the team."

"Not a chance in hell. I am _not_ going back to England," said Lal flatly. Seeing the defiant looks of her team, she glared. "If you must know I barely survived their damn war and it was bad enough I know what the inside of Malfoy Manor looks like."

Viper winced.

"What's so special about 'Malfoy Manor'?" asked Fon.

"Malfoy manor is where the magical terrorists took their important prisoners and tortured them for weeks, if not months. It was an important stronghold and often the lead terrorist would come and 'play' with the prisoners," said Viper in a flat voice.

"How do you know about it?" asked Renato.

"I'm a first gen who was smart enough to keep my head down during the war. I sold information to Potter's side until it was too dangerous to stick around so I left. You have no idea how glad I was that she killed that bastard," said Viper.

"Half-blood," said Lal.

"You're really dead set against going to England," said Renato, eyeing her.

"Not a chance in hell. I left that country and never looked back," said Lal flatly.

Too bad she wasn't given a choice. She was going to kill Renato for drugging her like that.


	4. Chapter 4

Colonello was pissed, and it had everything to do with the fact Lal hadn't come back after the meeting. She would have called if she was going to be late!

If Lal Mirch gave her word, then it was golden. She never lied, she preferred the blunt truth. So for her not to call and be missing... something had to happen.

And then he got a call that had him packing his bags and hers charting a plane to England.

He'd have to thank whoever this "Skull-sama" was.

* * *

 _In England..._

Renato hadn't thought twice about drugging Lal. She was too useful and they needed her knowledge base on the target. That and she was already familiar with the terrain.

Except... he started having doubts when he saw the look on her face. She was completely terrified of something.

He didn't even notice Skull hurriedly calling someone, or the brief conversation.

All too soon Lal's face cleared and there was something in her eyes that made Renato want to run like hell and not look back.

"Who drugged me?" she growled.

Without fail, almost every single one of them pointed at the Sun.

He didn't have a chance to explain. Lal was on him in a heart beat, and she was doing her best to cave his head in, while swearing loud profanities.

It was clear she was beyond pissed.

There was a silent audience as Lal beat the living shit out of Renato for his stunt. She hated England. There was now a groaning mess of a Sun on the floor.

"...Remind me never to piss you off," said Viper.

"Oh, that wasn't me pissed off. You'd know if I was beyond pissed off. This was me 'explaining' to him how much I hate being drugged and then carted around like some piece of baggage to a country I detest," said Lal far too calmly. She didn't even look at the blood on her fists.

"Are you going to bail on us now that we're here?" asked Verde, pushing up his glasses.

"I'll give you any intel you want... but it might be outdated. I don't know or care about the movers or player in power, though considering how things were when I was last here I doubt anything really changed. Just don't expect me to go anywhere near the major centers or near the goblins."

"I can handle the goblins," said Viper.

Once they were sure Lal wasn't about to go postal on them as well, they started making plans. Finding out the woman's past was a good way to anticipate her possible movements or at least eliminate areas she would go to.

"Who should go to Surrey?" asked Fon. With Renato healing from the asskicking Lal gave him, he opted to take control.

Lal glanced at them all, before picking a few to do the most damage.

"If we want to be discreet, then Verde and possibly Viper should go under disguise. However if I were you I'd investigate the house that Potter's residence was _thoroughly_. Don't dismiss a single door no matter how ridiculous."

Verde was smart, and he'd be able to hack any computer records...not to mention thorough. Viper was sharp eyed and would be able to find things most people wouldn't bother seeing.

The Lightning and Mist departed using Lal's small amount of information. It wouldn't take too long for them to find out the horrifying truth and relay it back to the others.

God she hated England.

* * *

Verde was absolutely disgusted with the place, and Viper would be glad to leave.

This place _reeked_ of fake normality. And when they reached the house from the records, he felt like burning it down on principle.

Viper almost _did_ burn it down when they managed to get into the home. Two seconds after they came in, the woman who lived there started screaming about "freaks". Likely because Viper had dropped her illusion in favor of hiding what they were actually doing. Besides, the horse face twit was rather informative for all her shrieking.

It was only because of Lal's strong order that they check _every_ door that they found something so disgusting that they had to refrain from killing the woman.

Inside the boot cupboard under the stairs was a 'room'. Or the mockery of one. Verde cursed and Viper looked murderous.

Suddenly a lot of things made sense. Why there were no photos other than a very obese blond child with weak blue eyes. Why the woman had started shrieking at Viper the second she dropped her disguise.

Why Lal had told them to check every door, no matter how ridiculous it sounded.

Viper didn't even think twice. She ripped out the information from the woman's mind without any mercy and then left the bitch a vegetable. She didn't deserve the mercy of dying.

Potter had saved them, and this was her childhood home. A home where she had clearly been abused and neglected in for a very long time.

They turned the house over, and the multiple locks and cat flap made Viper want to gouge the woman's throat out. She was that pissed.

They finished up quickly and went straight to their temporary base.

Lal was out getting food, and the others were waiting for them.

Fon didn't even wait when he saw the look on their faces.

"What happened?"

Viper started swearing in multiple languages, beyond pissed and ready to kill someone. Skull, Renato and Fon stared.

"Potter was abused," said Verde, though it was clear he was beyond angry and wanting someone to...experiment... on.

They froze.

"What," said Renato.

"Her 'room', if you want to call it that, was a small cupboard under the stairs. They must have moved her when the letters first came, to avoid the scandal of what the wizards would do to them. There were no less than ten locks and a _cat flap_ on the door. There wasn't even a single indication she lived there, except that was the address in the school records. More to the point there were multiple complaints from the school nurse about injuries caused by the family that were never investigated properly," said Viper with a snarl.

Fon and Renato stilled.

"And that woman who _raised_ her... it's a miracle she was even functional! They practically turned her into their live in slave! They belittled her and her parents her entire life, until someone told her the truth!" ranted Viper.

"So we can cross Surrey off the list," said Lal bluntly.

Not that she hadn't already known that.

"What did you get?"

"Sheppard's pie, fish and chips and some tea. Fon, feel free to get the kettle started," said Lal.

"Eating out is a waste of money," said Viper, her mood very dark.

"Well unless you want to buy enough groceries to last six people a week, I suggest you get used to it," deadpanned Lal.

There was a sudden knock on the door. Renato was already pulling out his gun.

Except Lal was looking at her watch with suspicion.

"What is it?" asked Fon.

"That damn idiot! When the hell did he put a tracker on me?!"

" _For the record, it was always there, they just gave me the other half of it!"_ said a voice in Italian.

Lal stormed to the door, threw it open, and then gut checked the blond on the other side.

"Nice to see you too, captain," groaned Colonello.

"What the hell are you doing here you idiot?" she growled.

Colonello was winded, but unfazed.

"You didn't call after the meeting, and then someone sent me a text saying you were heading to England. Everyone knows you hate that place, so I knew something was wrong. Greg cleared it with our superiors and said that this officially counted as your overdue vacation," said Colonello.

"Overdue vacation my ass!" she said angrily.

"Who the hell is this?" demanded Renato.

"My idiot partner," said Lal growling.

Colonello grinned and gave a loose salute.

"The name's Colonello, kora!" he said grinning.

Renato glared at him.

"Since he's _your_ student, you get to deal with him. Fon can keep an eye on you both," said Renato crossly. "And since her childhood home is a bust..."

"Who are you looking for anyway?" asked Colonello.

"The magical savior of England," said Lal annoyed.

"Didn't she disappear off the grid over eight years ago?" asked Colonello.

"How do you know about that?" demanded Lal.

"It's in our required history lessons. We have to know the 'who's who' of both the underworld and the magical one. There's a ton of speculation on where she is, since she's so famous and the fact she disappeared without a trace," said Colonello.

"In any case, since Surrey is a bust where should we look next?" asked Renato.

"We could try the Weasleys," said Viper. "Potter was a known associate with them."

"Where do they live?"

"You'd be better off trying the joke shop in Diagon, if it hasn't closed," said Lal bluntly.

"Joke shop?" Renato perked up.

"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes is still one of the best selling shops for prank items. Rumor has it Potter owns half the shop," said Viper.

"Potter gave her Triwizard winnings to them, from what I've heard," said Lal.

She didn't know she owned half the shop. Figures they forgot to tell her that.

"I'll go to the joke shop. Someone should try their home address just in case," said Renato.

"I'll be getting this idiot up to speed and holding down the base," said Lal immediately.

She had little doubt they would have wards on her magical signature to alert them if she stepped foot in the shop, and she still remembered that damn clock.

Renato gave her an annoyed look.

"You and that idiot are going to the Weasley home. Viper and Verde already did their investigating and need time to cool off," said Renato.

Oh _hell_ no.

"Need I remind you that I'm the only source of information close to Potter that you have?" she snarled.

"And so far all you've done is reveal she had a less than happy childhood," said Renato. "Not to mention you dragged an unknown into this mid-mission!"

"I didn't even want to _come_ here! Hell, I don't even need the money from these stupid things!" said Lal.

"How old is your family line?" asked Viper immediately. If Lal was a half blood and didn't need the money, then she must be from an old lineage.

"I have no idea, just that it's from one of the 'noble' houses that had a lot of cash that was never used. I'm the last of my line and I have no intention of sticking around," said Lal flatly. Viper perked up at that. "And I made a point of converting over half of what I had into gold bullion and then investing it, so now I have enough cash to retire now and live off of it without actually dipping into the rest of it."

Still this was going to suck, she just knew it.

* * *

It was exactly how she remembered it, even if she wished she could have stayed away.

"Wow! It's really weird!" said Colonello laughing.

Thank god she had the sense to hide her true self behind as many charms as she could, and hadn't used that damn name since. Starting over in the military had it's perks... including the fact that they provided basic necessities like food, water, and lodging. She had little need of anything else, and it meant she had more than enough money to live off of without having to bring the goblins in. And that they were coming at night, when everyone was asleep.

"Keep your voice down, idiot!" she said, kicking him. He hopped a bit before he looked at her oddly.

"I thought we were coming to ask questions?"

"The Weasleys were one of Potter's strongest supporters in the war. You really think they haven't tried to find her yet? Odds are they have no idea where she is, and I know for a fact they won't just lead perfect strangers to her. However, we can get in and examine the clock and get out," said Lal.

Colonello looked at her oddly.

Not much was really known about Lal Mirch before she joined COMSUBIN almost eight...years...ago.

Colonello looked at Lal, hard.

There were a few rare pictures of Potter after the war, since she disappeared so abruptly and completely.

The PTSD. The hatred of coming to England. The long process of acclimating her to his Flames so that she didn't have a panic attack. Her hatred of hospitals, and healers in general. The way she had an instinctive ability to lead and train rookies into fighters. Her insane pain tolerance.

All of the little pieces started sliding into together to paint a much bigger picture. If he was right, then Lal would be able to waltz past the wards on the place and would leave something behind.

He was really hoping he was wrong though. Because if his suspicions were correct then it was pretty damn obvious Lal knew _exactly_ where Potter was... and they would never find her. She had suffered enough.

Seeing Lal walk into the house, pretend (and now that he was watching he could tell she was only giving the weird clock a cursory glance) to look at the spells on the thing, before giving the living room a half assed once over. She paused before they left... and left a bouquet of flowers, the number exactly matching the hands on that weird clock. It was tied with a ribbon that had orange, blue, purple and indigo all mixed together, with orange and blue being the dominant colors... and a cheerful little rain cloud with the cloud being purple and the rain being blue.

That cinched it. Especially since the flowers were lilacs and lilies.

It didn't surprise him in the least that she gave a completely true report...without telling them anything.


	5. Chapter 5

Viper was irritable, and so was Renato.

"The magicals are in an uproar over something. There's so much gossip about Potter possibly being in the country that any information we get could be hearsay or inaccurate," said Viper.

"Where does that leave us?" asked Verde.

"It's impossible to get anything worth using here, and I doubt Lal will want to go anywhere near Hogwarts. Especially with her condition," said Viper.

Renato turned to Lal with an irritated look.

"You're not pregnant by that blond idiot are you?"

He narrowly dodged her foot in his face.

"Of course not!" she said with a flaming red face.

"She has PTSD, you idiot," said Viper. "Likely caused by the war and the events at the final battle."

"What in god's name made you think I was pregnant?" demanded Lal angrily.

Renato smirked at her and Colonello.

"You're unusually close to him and you hate sharing a room with anyone. And you don't even register his presence in your personal space, to the point he openly shares your bed at night. What else am I supposed to think?"

Lal snarled and looked ready to rip him a new one. Colonello quickly trapped her in his arms.

"Easy..." he said soothing. He turned to Renato. "You're a bit of an asshole, aren't you?"

Skull snickered, before hiding behind Fon when Renato turned to glare at him.

"Look, can we just get this stupid assignment over with?" demanded Lal.

"Alright miss fan girl... where does the trail lead?" demanded Renato. He was getting sick of all the dead ends as well.

"The last known location of Potter was somewhere in Venice. There was an attack and she almost got arrested by the Italian magical police, and after that she disappeared off the grid completely," said Lal. "And because of so many inquiries, they made it public record."

"Will it actually lead to anything?" asked Renato.

"Not really. Her vaults were all sealed and only someone with her bloodline or her personal magical signature can get into them, so even if you did try to track her down in Italy there's no guarantee she's there. Odds are she went completely non-magical and went into hiding. And considering how much practice she has at evading attention by now..."

"Any record we get will be completely useless. Che..."

Renato looked pissed. He hated failing a mission like this, but with so few real leads, and their initial source ruined beyond usable recognition they had to declare this one a bust.

Viper was very unhappy.

"So we're not getting paid?"

"How much were these guys paying you to find her anyway?" asked Colonello.

"Hang on, I think I still have the paper he sent us..." said Skull.

It took a few seconds to register the "payment" for "finding" Potter before they immediately declared the mission over.

Apparently the man who recruited them wanted Potter to act as their Sky, but had been as unsuccessful finding her as they were. The payment, as ridiculous as it sounded, was the possibility of being given a Guardian bond.

Needless to say Viper was very angry at being duped like this, and even Renato couldn't complain about the failure.

Skies had been trying to pull him in for years. And he had little doubt Potter would fail just as they had. So why drag someone who clearly went into hiding for damn good reason into their world?

* * *

The first thing Colonello said, once she was safely in her apartment off base was "I won't tell them the truth about why you deliberately stirred up that hornet's nest."

Lal blinked.

"What?"

His eyes were flat.

"Come on Lal, really? A 'Potter fan girl'? No fan would dare consider the cupboard a viable place to look or redirect the searchers to something they definitely wouldn't like to find. And I know you were faking it at that weird house, besides leaving such an obvious calling card."

She froze. No, no, no! Not when she had managed to trick Renato and the others to the point they quit trying to find her!

Colonello was quick to wrap his arms around her, his soothing presence only slightly dampening her obvious panic attack.

"Shh... it's okay. I'm not going to tell them the truth. As far as I'm concerned she can stay missing. My partner is Lal Mirch, not some famous figure that deserves to rest," he said, kissing the top of her head gently.

"How?"

"You can fool some almost strangers, but you can't fool someone who has held you repeatedly through multiple nightmares and flashbacks," said Colonello simply. "All I had to do was put the little things together to figure it out... the fact you walked right into that house without waking anyone up and didn't properly search only cinched it."

She was about ready to cry. If anyone knew... she'd never have a moment's peace!

And then the worst happened. The part of her that she had kept under tight control, the fire that she had desperately kept under lock and key slipped.

She tried to push Colonello away. She didn't want him to be exposed to that part of her!

"Shhh... I'm right here and I'm not leaving. No matter what you say or do, I'm staying by your side."

No! She couldn't let that orange fire taint him, like it had so many others! That flame had lead most of her friends to being tortured or worse, to sacrifice themselves for her with a smile on their face. She refused to let that horrible fire hurt him!

But the orange flame she had kept shoved beneath her Cloud and Mist secondaries would not be denied. It wanted this, regardless of how she felt about the matter.

Lal tried desperately to push him away... but it was too late. The cooling feel of Colonello's Rain flames and the scarred ball of Sky that she had shoved so deep that it was almost sealed collided.

And his flames were eagerly accepted by her Sky.

This time she didn't bother trying to hold it back. She was openly crying.

She was terrified of losing him like she had so many others.

Colonello had never felt what it was like to feel Harmony. To have a place where you were accepted unconditionally and would always have somewhere to call home. No wonder Skies were so sought after, if this warm feeling in his chest was what harmony felt like.

He knew Lal was scared. Hell, she was terrified of it.

Who could blame her? Anyone who bonded with her during the war ran the highest risk of capture, torture and almost certain death! Hell, he could only guess that she had lost Guardians before, like her Godfather. It would explain why there was so much damage on top of what the old goat and the dark lord had done to her.

It was no secret they were Skies, and there was generally only a few select reactions to a young Sky in the territory of an older one.

The two major ones being Resonance... or attempting to annihilate the weaker Sky to keep them from taking the stronger Elements.

Colonello held his new Sky close, letting her cry it out.

Lal was in no condition to return to work. And honestly, he had no idea how to hide he was now a Harmonized Rain. Fortunately Lal already had an idea of how to get people to mistake his new status as her Rain for something else entirely.

He took the head slap with the ease of long practice, before choking on his coffee.

"If anyone asks, your Flames were a perfect match for mine and they ended up mixing," she said flatly.

Colonello, once he cleared his airways, looked at her incredulous.

"Wait, are you telling me that our cover story will be that we're _Flame_ compatible?"

There were _almost_ as many fairy tales about two Elements being Flame compatible to the point they were soul mates as there were about Skies and their Guardians. A sort of consolation prize for the Elements who had yet to find their Sky.

The thing was, such stories were usually the result of the Flame users being lovers at the same time.

Lal was honest to god _blushing_.

"It's the simplest explanation I can think of that will keep everyone from guessing the truth, and no one is really likely to question it," she said not looking him in the eye.

She wasn't the only one blushing. He had been trying to lure Lal into a date for years. To say they were Flame compatible was something he never would have considered.

"Wait, what about your policy never to date students?"

"You're almost finished with training anyway, and you _were_ assigned my permanent partner. You just need to get through one last test and you'll no longer be a student, but a colleague."

Colonello perked up.

"Hey Lal... if I get top grade on that final test... will you go out with me?" he asked. You could practically see the tail of a dog wagging behind him.

"Don't be stupid!" she said yelling, embarrassed.

"Aw, come on! Don't be so shy, Captain!" he said laughing.

She threw a shoe at him.

* * *

Lal looked at the board with a somewhat horrified expression on her face.

"What's with that face?"

"I told that idiot if he managed to match my scores on those tests I'd go out on a date with him to shut him up."

Greg looked at Colonello's scores. Then at Lal Mirch who had a pole axed expression on her face.

Then he started to laugh his ass off. Looks like her little motivational methods had finally backfired on her! At least her professional reputation was safe.

Technically he was no longer her student, after all...

Colonello practically bounded up to Lal with a monumental grin on his face.

"Well?"

She flushed, before storming off. Greg was still laughing, but he threw an arm around his new colleague.

"Congrats rookie, you're now one of us."

Colonello perked up, and then he saw his scores.

"So why did she look so shocked?"

"You managed to match her scores. I believe she made something of a bet with you about that?"

Colonello blinked, before a wide grin came on his face.

Lal had jokingly bet him that if he managed to match her scores on the exams she would go out on a date with him for real.

And considering she _never_ went back on her word... he had some preparing to do.

* * *

 _Later that evening..._

Colonello stared at his now _former_ teacher who was in a stunning dress that only accentuated her curves and showed off her physique without showing off her scars. Mostly to avoid the civilians from gawking at her. She was even wearing a light amount of make up!

"Well are you going to stand there staring?" she demanded blushing heavily.

"Wow... you look absolutely hot, kora," he said with seriousness.

Lal flushed even darker, her face a solid red. Colonello chuckled and kissed her on the cheek.

It was perfect. Though one thing stood out to the blond during the entire date.

Lal had never had a real man to take her out on a proper date before. Considering most of her teenage years were spent just _surviving_ , and then she spent the next almost nine years trying to reinvent herself only to be held back by the level of trauma in her soul.

Seeing the normally tough woman trying to hide her real feelings was so damn cute he couldn't keep his eyes off her. But he kept his hands to himself, never straying from the safe areas and making sure his movements were visible and obvious. A few stray kisses were acceptable... being too handsy was not.

The fact she invited him to her apartment after was icing on the cake, even if they didn't do more than cuddle after a particularly heavy make out session.

If he wanted her, he could wait. He knew she was worth it. She would always be worth it.

When news spread about Lal and her new colleague being Flame compatible, the response from the higher ups was rather expected.

She was being given the chance to leave with their blessing, complete with a rather nice severance package.

It wasn't like they were kicking her out, far from it. It was more of a "give our new trainers a chance" type of thing. She would always be welcomed back with open arms, and she was in a bit of a rut.

That and they were not so discreetly encouraging her to explore this new bond with Colonello without distraction.

At this point she didn't even try to tell the blond off for moving into her apartment. She was so used to him being there that she found his presence soothing, even before flames were brought into the equation.

So as she relaxed into the couch, watching a movie she was only half paying attention to, Colonello decided to try and bleed off some of the nightmares she kept having.

"So... you want to talk about it? Why you're so afraid of your own Sky?"

Lal tensed, but simply hit mute.

"Every time I've seen orange flames, it's always followed by unimaginable pain and feeling as though someone's trying to drown me with their soul."

Dumbledore in particular was bad at flaring his Flames when she tried to rebel against him, and the less said about how much damage Voldemort took such pleasure in inflicting on her, the better.

Colonello grimaced.

"How bad?"

"From what the teachers told me when they found out I was Active, Dumbledore was consistently trying to force me into being his Guardian when I challenged him. And Voldemort simply took advantage of the damage the old bastard left to make my life hell while he tortured me."

Colonello's arm was around her before she even finished. Like always he made sure she knew exactly what he was doing.

"It wasn't until I found out that sometimes Skies will attack a younger Sky to get rid of them that I realized I was simply Discordant when it came to them. And when everyone I bonded with died during the war..."

Colonello winced. He had suspected as much, but to have it confirmed. No wonder she had locked her own Sky away.

"You're not going to lose me, Lal. I promise you that," he said, kissing her forehead.

She leaned into him, tears streaming down her face. Memories of those she had lost, of all the pain she went through during her teen years... it hurt. It hurt like _hell_.


	6. Chapter 6

Lal woke up to something missing...and the distinct smell of something horrible burning.

"Dear gods, what the hell is that?!" she demanded, crawling out of bed to find... Colonello attempting to turn off the stove in a panic, with food ruined beyond all recognition. "Colonello... what the hell do you think you are doing?"

The man froze, before sheepishly looking at his girlfriend.

"Uh... trying to cook breakfast in bed for you?" he admitted.

Lal glared at him.

"Why?"

Colonello couldn't really meet her eyes.

"Did you really forget the date?"

Lal looked at the calendar, before she blinked.

"You sentimental idiot. If you really wanted to do the whole breakfast in bed thing, you should have just ordered out. We both know you can't cook," said Lal exasperated, but fond.

The arrangement they had was simple. Lal cooked, Colonello cleaned the dishes.

The few times he tried to cook, he nearly burnt down the forest they were in because he had the flames up too high, and he was subsequently banned from anything involving cooking ever since. Whereas Lal was simply too lazy most days to do the dishes.

She honestly forgot it was her birthday, since she never really celebrated it.

She glared at Colonello for nearly wrecking her kitchen, again, and got ready for the day.

Though she certainly wasn't expecting the visitors she got.

"What are _you_ doing here?" she said baffled.

"These idiots paid me to find out when your birthday was, and the rest insisted on joining out of lack of anything better to do," Viper informed her. She peered past Lal. "What happened to you kitchen and why does it smell like smoke?"

"A certain idiot who knows damn well he can't cook attempted to make me breakfast in bed," deadpanned Lal. She narrowed her eyes at Viper. "And how in the hell do you know where I live, much less when my birthday is?"

Viper smirked.

"The rumors of the park demon are well known, and while you used a fake name it was easy to track down video footage of all the homes close to the park and figure out the general area. As for your birthday, I bribed one of your fellow trainers for the information. Coincidentally expect a visit from them as well."

Lal looked annoyed, but resigned.

"So why didn't you tell us your birthday is the same as Potter's?" asked Skull curious.

"Not much to tell. Not like I care," said Lal.

"This coming from her fan girl..." smirked Renato.

"Keep that up and I'll drag you to the park and throw you for the kids to 'play' with," said Lal in warning. The kids who frequented the park were like damn sharks, and just playing with them was exhausting.

Renato wouldn't hurt them, she knew that much, but she would so be confiscating all his weapons before he threw him into that mess.

The impromptu party was total chaos, but damn if it wasn't more fun than she had in a very long time.

For some reason Renato, Fon and Viper were all unusually paranoid near the end of it, as if they were looking for something. They seemed rather annoyed that they failed to locate whatever or whoever it was.

Needless to say Lal _did_ choke on her beer when Colonello finally called them on it right as they were packing up.

"What the hell had your panties in a bunch?"

"There is a Sky in the park," said Renato, as if commenting on the weather. Ironic, considering Skies tended to collect Elements named after weather phenomena.

"A Sky without any Elements and a lot of scarring," agreed Fon, relieved he wasn't the only one to pick up on it. "Probably from having Guardian bonds shattered so abruptly."

Lal managed to clear her airways.

"How the hell could you know that? I didn't sense anything!"

"Which is odd, considering how hypersensitive you are to flaring. Then again this felt more like a lazy cat stretching in the sun than someone deliberately trying to press their Flames on an Element," said Viper. "It's possible they were too subtle for you to notice."

"Is that what that warm, furry feeling was?" asked Skull. It had felt nice, homey. He wouldn't mind being around that, even if it was clear that whoever had those sort of Flames was damaged in some way.

"It seems whoever was doing it was told off," said Renato. Was that a hint of disappointment in his voice?

Lal observed the others. Judging from the looks on Fon, Viper, Verde _and_ Renato's faces, it was the first time they had come across a Sky who had room for free Elements like them, and wasn't trying to force them into a Harmony.

She hid a wince. Colonello had gotten lucky, in more ways than one. He hadn't had to endure the flaring of an arrogant self-entitled Sky trying to force him into a Harmony he didn't want. He had found his Sky entirely by accident without looking.

However the others, barring Skull...they were in the mafia for a long time. Skies always wanted to drag in the best, strongest Elements they could for protection, and considering they were the strongest Elements currently alive...well, it meant they were subjected to quite a lot of 'courting' from various familigias. Some of whom were less than polite about trying to force them into a Guardian bond.

None were strong enough to pull it off, and it resulted in scarring on their souls, not that the Skies or their familigias cared. It was even worse for them, because they not only had Flames that were stronger than normal, but their skill sets and assets were enough to tempt even the most morally depraved familigias into trying to trap them.

It made the old part of her, the one she had firmly buried years ago, want to wrap them up in a hug. The Sky in her soul wanted to wrap itself around them and tell them it would be okay.

But there was no way she could. Not without revealing who she really was. That part of her was still the terrified teenager with the world against her all demanding a piece until nothing was left.

It was a miracle Colonello had managed to break through like he had.

* * *

Colonello was hitting a bar after yet another assignment, when he stumbled across something that would break Lal's barriers down a little more than normal.

It was her old students (at least five or six of them) chatting about their old "Demon Captain" with smiles on their faces as the joked about her quirks.

Colonello hid a grin and listened in for a bit at least until one of the men busted him.

"So you guys know the commander?"

"Lal Mirch plays the heartless bitch, but it's a total act," joked Frederico. He remembered that woman vividly, even if he had to drop out of COMSUBIN due to family issues.

"How so?" asked Colonello, playing the rookie. Unseen by the men, Lal had walked into the bar with her hair tied up in a loose bun and in more casual clothes than normal. She only wore them outside of work.

"When my wife died, and all my family suddenly decided they were tired of helping, the only one who came and helped us back up on our feet was the commander."

Lal froze at the bar, recognizing the voice.

Colonello blinked.

"Really?"

"I sent her an e-mail, mostly to vent because she always listened, and less than two days later she came to my house and helped me get through my rough patch. Damn near gave me a heart attack seeing her there! Hell, I thought I was hallucinating seeing her with my kids and not barking at them like she did us!" he laughed.

"That's nothing!" joked his partner. "I got caught up in a murder investigation with some asshole who was trying to screw me over as a scapegoat, and since no one believed me I thought what the hell, why not bring the commander in. Still don't know why I called her, but she came on the first flight and not only ripped the bastard a new one but she stood right by me the entire trial and even paid the legal fees. Best decision I ever made," said Santos.

Colonello grinned.

"Sounds like the hardass teacher who loves her students enough to drop whatever she's doing to come help," he said.

"God I miss that woman! She's the sort of commander you'd want leading you, because she actually gives a damn about her students," said Frederico.

"Hear, hear!" said the others.

Colonello used the mirror to observe Lal's reaction. She was shaking slightly. Like she hadn't realized what an impact she made on her students.

"Did you know she has PTSD?"

Hearing the men choke, they all stared at him.

"No way in hell that's true! It's the commander!" said Santos in open disbelief.

"You better not be spreading lies about her kid," warned Aldio. It was clear they were all fond of the woman, to the point they would come to blows if he tried to slander her.

"It's true! You know all those times the senior trainers went up to the mountains for a week and how she acted like an enraged Cloud for a few days before she went back to normal? She was having episodes and the higher ups covered it up."

Lal had enough.

"Colonello, what the hell do you think you're doing?" she growled. The men all jerked up (save for said blond) the second they recognized her voice. Absolute shock was in their faces, right before they all stood up and gave her a proper salute.

"Commander!" they said in perfect unison.

"Come on Lal, it's not like it will do any harm. You've gotten a lot better," complained Colonello easily.

If the shock of seeing her wasn't enough, seeing the way she treated him nearly made them faint from disbelief.

She slapped his head with barely enough force to make his head bend.

"It's bad enough you told Skull and Fon about my condition, I don't need you spreading it among your fellow students!" she barked.

"No way... it's true?" said Santos, staring at her in shock. He barely flinched when she leveled one of her familiar glares at him.

"Lal's a witch who survived the blood purges in England, and she was on the front lines," said Colonello.

If they survived her, then odds were they at least were told of the magicals. More than a few first gens or squibs had joined the army to make something of themselves.

She twisted his ear harder, but barely grumbled when he easily wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into his lap. Besides, there wasn't any more room for chairs.

It was a very surreal moment for her students, seeing her act so _normal_ instead of the tough bitch they knew her as. Well, outside of the times when she proved she cared more than they knew about her students in times of need.

Still, watching her banter with Colonello and him taking her 'reprimands' with a grin, something settled and the awkwardness faded away. There was no mistaking the fact that the woman was relaxed around her old students, nor the fact she was secretly embarrassed by the obvious fondness they had for her.

They were happy for her, finding someone who could handle her "Tsun" side and expose the softer "Dere" side underneath. Even if it was a total shock seeing it for themselves.

Colonello grinned as he felt Lal lean on him. She had far too much to drink, whereas he had been smart enough to snack on the food between beers.

"Surprised they love you that much, despite the fact you liked to bark at them?" he laughed. She wanted to kick him, but had the sense not to. She'd only end up embarrassing herself.

Lal flushed, and not just from the alcohol in her system.

"Shut up!" she said crossly, slurring her words.

Colonello grinned, and did something that had her squawk in protest. He scooped her up in his arm and carried her on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Hearing her snore, he grinned wider. It was a testament to her trust towards him that she allowed her guard to drop long enough to actually fall asleep.

She briefly woke up once she was past the boundaries of the apartment long enough to change, before she promptly used him as a giant pillow.

How had he gotten so lucky to find a woman like her?

Holding her close to him, he soon fell into an easy sleep of his own.


	7. Chapter 7

Something was wrong. This entire assignment screamed "wrong" in the same way her end-of-the-year adventures did, and if that wasn't a big enough clue then the fact she could _feel_ magical build up on the mountain told her something was going to happen. Something bad.

They were near the top when she felt the magic spike, and she reacted on instinct.

The others were only alerted when the light around them flared, but they all felt Lal's Flames flare in warning.

 _All_ of her Flames.

* * *

Groaning, and feeling like she had gone ten rounds with a bludger, it took her a few seconds to register something.

She was tiny!

Her eyes looked at her body in horror, but the thing that terrified her the most was the bright orange pacifier around her neck. Her Sky Flames were refusing to return behind her secondaries, and what was more they had clearly bonded with the others.

She wanted to scream, but then she realized they weren't on the mountain anymore. Instead she was in a room with books.

She saw one with a bright orange cover and cautiously opened her. Her face fell flat and she became enraged.

How dare he. HOW DARE HE?!

Like she would abandon Colonello, now when she had finally found someone who could chase the darkness that haunted her away. She'd rather be stuck a child and spend whatever time they had left together than even consider returning to her real age.

Walking out of the room, she barely registered the shock of the others upon seeing the color of her pacifier. She was so pissed off that it took her a few moments to register Colonello holding her.

Apparently she wasn't the only one who had lost several years. They all had.

Viper stared at her in disbelief, as did Renato.

"You're a _Sky_?" he said in shock.

"That day in the park... you were the one with the scarred flames that we felt," said Viper, staring at her.

"How? Why did you hide your true Flames?" asked Fon. He almost sounded hurt.

Lal flinched openly.

"I never wanted to be a Sky!" she shouted, almost crying. If not for the soothing feel of Colonello next to her, she would have. "Do you have any idea how much it hurts, having Guardians and then having them killed right in front of you, with a smile on their face because they died knowing they were helping you end a monster? To feel the shock of the bonds cut off because you were too weak or too slow to save them?"

Viper stared at her, before it suddenly clicked.

"You. You're Lilac Potter," she said with stunned realization.

"No I'm not! That person died years ago, and I hope she stays dead!" said Lal hysterically. This was not a good day for her at all.

First she ends up bonded with the others as their Sky, despite holding it in for almost a decade, and that's on top of learning they were all now cursed to stay toddlers and act as the newest generation of the Arcobaleno.

Renato grumbled. Probably because the woman they spent a month searching for turned out to be right under their noses the entire time. The bond was so new that he felt the urge to go and comfort his Sky, but it was clear Lal didn't want them at all.

If she had, she would have revealed her real Flames months ago.

Skull had no such delusions. He went up and hugged Lal as hard as he could, letting her cry on his shoulder.

It was pretty clear she was going to be difficult until this settled in and they got used to being _children_ again. Today had simply been too much for her to handle.

It would take a few days for her to calm down, and that was mostly because Colonello knew how to handle Lal when she was like this. Skull stayed with her like some sort of puppy, which seemed to help.

Once she was able to behave more like her normal self, she reluctantly explained to them why she didn't want Elements.

All of hers were either dead or had the bond forcibly broken when she had martyred herself to save them. How the magicals had been so drawn to the Sky Attraction she was never told about to the point they either vilified her when she did something they didn't like or agree with (like speaking to snakes or the whole mess with the Tri-Wizard tournament when they "assumed" she was cheating), or they put her on such a high pedestal that they automatically thought they could do whatever they wanted so long as they kept heaping "praise" on her.

That anything done in the name of "keeping her safe" was obviously acceptable because she was supposed to be protected.

Considering her strong Cloud secondary, the implication that this would involve a lot of time being trapped in a house with people who believed anything they did to keep her safe because "they knew best" made them cringe. Especially Fon, who had faced a few enraged Clouds before.

But the worst part, the absolute _worst_ part, was the fact she had literally been raised as a lamb for the slaughter and hadn't known it until she had walked into her own death. To feel all her Guardian bonds shattered because of her own actions and almost driving her Elements straight into Discord.

It was little wonder she had fled, abandoning her original name and hide the only way she could in the military.

It wasn't that she was rejecting them as her Elements... it was that she was absolutely _terrified_ that having Guardians would mean she would have to feel those bonds shattered all over again. To lose them and the people she had grown fond of and know it was all her fault.

She wouldn't be able to take that sort of pain a second time.

Through it all, she was crying her eyes out and leaning on Colonello heavily.

This was a Sky who had been through hell, all because of a Discordant nature against two older, more vindictive Skies. One of which who should have known better, but had instead used her for his own gain.

And then Lal dropped _another_ bombshell on them. One that would only lead her right back to the source of her traumatic nightmares.

"There isn't any cure for the Arcobaleno curse."

Viper froze, shocked.

"What?!"

"Bill mentioned it in passing once. How the seven strongest magicals would be gathered in a ritual that would change them into smaller forms that were no less deadly than their original ones. But there was never a cure found to reverse the change, and they all died in the end. They were little more than batteries to uphold the stability of the world and never even given a choice."

Viper was beyond furious. Renato had a the darkest expression she had ever seen on him. He didn't like being played like this.

"What exactly does this curse entail?" he asked, his voice cold and pissed.

"For starters, we're never going to age past this. I could, but I'd rather stay a toddler than live a few short years as an adult. Skies are the only ones who can change into their adult forms, but at the cost of dying that much sooner. They can also revive the others, however the cost of that is sacrificing their own lives in the process. You're unlikely to get sick, you won't die of old age, and you'll be nearly impossible to kill by conventional means," she informed him.

She had looked it up out of morbid curiosity, and because it had sounded so much like her own fate.

"Anything else?" asked Verde, pushing up his glasses.

"I only have limited information on the subject. What little I did find was all general information. An experienced Curse Breaker might have more, but I don't have access to their resources and I really don't want to waste time on a subject that might not even help," she said flatly.

"But you do know someone who is," said Viper.

"I haven't spoken to any of them in close to ten years. You all know that," said Lal tensely.

"Then it's past time you reconnected with them. You don't need to stay there and pretend you're back, but we do need as much information as possible to hopefully break this damn curse," said Viper.

Lal winced. She didn't even want to go back, but it was clear she might not have much of a choice.

"Shhh... we'll be right next to you this time," said Colonello, rubbing her back. "You really think a bunch of idiot magicals can really handle all of us? They barely know what Flames are, and you were just a civilian last time."

Lal almost flinched when she felt a calm hand on her shoulder. She looked and found Fon beside her with a comforting smile on his face.

There was no judgment in his eyes. Anyone who was around Lal knew she had been damaged by that war, and was only now starting to finally come out of the shell she had wrapped around herself out of desperation.

Colonello tried a bit of humor to get her mood back up.

"Besides... can you imagine Greg and the other's reaction finding out you were hiding such a strong Sky Flame from them this entire time, with how much the familigias put into having it?"

Lal's mouth quirked upward, just a little.

They'd never believe she was a Sky, much less _the_ Sky Arcobaleno unless she showed up and they saw it for themselves. Then they'd be kicking themselves for _years_ because she had hidden it from everyone for so long. Especially with how much the mafia familigias went on and on about a Sky and their Guardians.

It was sure to be absolutely _hilarious_ to see their expressions, never mind her former superiors. And don't get her started on the sheer shock it would give her students!

Colonello grinned, relieved. That had managed to bring out Lal's impish side and make her smile again.

Each of them went to sleep in their "rooms" one last time...and all of them walked out with a new animal partner.

Even if Viper did a doubletake when she saw the phoenix chick on Lal's shoulder. It wasn't a normal phoenix either, but a rare frost phoenix.

Rare, because the creatures lived in such inhospitable conditions that even getting to one in time to see it, let alone bond with one was almost impossible. The normal variety were difficult enough to get near.

"So what's it's name?" asked Colonello. He had named the falcon on his shoulder Falco...mostly because he sucked at names.

"Gabriel, after the patron saint of messengers," said Lal. It was almost like she had Hedwig back again. And while she hated Dumbledore her disdain had never carried to Fawkes. It cooed at her, and preened her hair.

* * *

Everyone more or less split up with the agreement to meet back at the park Lal favored before heading to England. It was going to be awkward enough explaining to the Weasleys why she was back, much less seeing if Bill would be willing to help her research.

Even if she loved her apartment, the knowledge she wouldn't be able to keep her status as the Sky Arcobaleno secret for very long meant it was a bad idea trying to stay here. The Mafia Families were annoying enough when trying to attract strong Elements... they'd kill to get their hands on an unattached Sky, much less someone like her.

Then again, that's why she had bought some land and warded it to hell and back to the point if someone stumbled into the forest surrounding the house, they'd assume it was cursed by something they didn't want to mess with. Most of the familigias assumed the area was a Cloud's territory, one that had Mist secondaries and left it alone.

Clouds were hard enough to deal with when they had a Sky, pissing one off by trying to force them to join was something only the most stupid would do. And there were enough traps to dissuade all but the most stubborn.

Those that did make it that far ran right into the Black Family style of warding, which went from horrific maiming into some rather terrifying degrees of slow, and very graphically painful deaths.

You did not piss off a Black, especially a powerful witch with paranoia honed from a nasty magical war and far too much time on her hands. It made the wards around Hogwarts look like amateur hour. Then again, it was a school, not the home of someone who very much liked their privacy.

* * *

Colonello was barely hiding his grin when they decided to make a visit back to base for a bit. Mostly to inform their old friends that it was highly unlikely they'd ever be able to come back to work.

Greg had laughed for all of five seconds finding out Colonello had walked right into becoming the Rain Arcobaleno, thinking Lal was now the Cloud.

His laughter cut off dead when he saw the _orange_ pacifier around Lal's neck, rather than the purple one.

"Holy mother of god. Am I drunk? Or is this some sort of sick Mist hallucination?!" he damn near yelled in shock.

Lal huffed, before sending a nasty kick to the leg. She hadn't gotten used to the height difference yet, to her annoyance. Greg hopped on his newly injured leg, and realized no, this wasn't something his imagination had come up with.

Needless to say his shouting drew the attention of the others, with varying degrees of disbelief and shock at the pacifier around Lal's neck.

It would take _hours_ before people believed that Lal was in fact the new Sky Arcobaleno... mostly because they were in disbelief she had hidden such a rare and prized Flame from everyone so long. Though it did explain why she was such a natural at getting her students to follow orders. Skies were natural leaders!

Colonello cheerfully paid Verde for the camera recordings of the entire event, and they all watched it for a laugh. He had been taking multiple pictures of the expressions on their faces, especially when Greg started swearing when he realized Colonello had known damn well she was a Sky and kept up the ruse that the new state of his Flames was because they were "soul mates".


	8. Chapter 8

It was such a peaceful day, well as peaceful as one could get in the Weasley household. It was also one of the rare days Bill was visiting with his wife and two children.

He glanced at the clock, mostly out of habit than anything else and stopped dead cold.

It took several minutes before his mind registered what he was seeing, because it had been years.

"Bill?" said Hermione.

"The clock," he said.

Hermione looked at the clock and then she saw it. The dishes in her hand dropped in disbelief, shattering on the floor.

The sound drew the others.

The hand that marked Lilac, the witch who had defeated Voldemort, had begun to move again. For years it had been frozen on the clock, never moving or hiding behind the others.

And now the magic was moving it again, this time marking it on the slot for "traveling".

Whatever spell she had used to hide herself from them, it was gone. Either that or she had decided to come out of hiding for some reason.

The flowers had been a small message. Her way of saying "Hey, I'm still alive" sort of thing.

Seeing it slowly move to 'home', eyes went wide.

Then there was a knock at the door. There was something of a rush to be the first one to get to it.

"Down here," said an exasperated voice.

Eyes tilted downward and Bill winced when he saw the pacifier.

"I'm back," she said.

"LILAC!"

Lal winced. She was never more glad for her new small size than when she managed to avoid a massive Weasley hug, especially from Molly. Her training kicked in and she managed to get out of the way in time.

Colonello laughed long and hard at the look on her face.

"Shut up you damn idiot!" she shouted.

"Come on Lal, it's not like you've seen them in a long time! You can stand a few hugs!" he said, holding his stomach.

She growled, before kicking him in the chest. Or as close as she could get.

"I would rather not be smothered, thank you very much!" she said irate, face flushed with embarrassment.

"Ah, the infamous 'tsun' side, of Lal," said Reborn amused.

With her help he had opted to change his name and drop off the grid. Until this curse was broken, he didn't want to be reminded of his own past.

"Bite me, you ass," said Lal grumbling.

What followed was the familiar sound of Weasley chaos, one that was quickly upgraded to a cheerful Luna dose of crazy. Like she had known.

With Luna, she probably _did_.

"Well this is cozy," said Fon with his usual serene smile.

Once the din had died down, Bill had pretty much guessed what happened and who the others were. Finding out Lilac, or rather Lal Mirch, had changed her name in desperation to get away wasn't that shocking at all.

Of course hearing her bark at Ron was a bit of a surprise. Especially when she seemed to adjust on the fly to deliver some rather spectacular slaps to the head.

"So Lal, who's the blond?" asked a cheerful Ginny.

"I'm her husband," said Colonello, and he sat back to enjoy the chaos. Lal was too busy blushing like crazy to deny his claim, and the others were too amused to say anything.

"How did you meet?" asked Molly.

"I was his instructor in the military and he was the only one crazy enough to stick around after the trial period. Most of my students transferred to the other instructors, but he stayed," said Lal, falling into familiar territory.

"I found out she had PTSD by accident, and there was no way I was going to let her suffer in silence anymore," said Colonello.

"What's PTSD?" asked Ron.

Hermione winced.

"It's short for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It's a condition people get after traumatic experiences where they relieve some of the darker moments of their life and can lash out at others without even realizing they aren't in danger. Imagine being around dementors without the oppressive depression and despair that comes with it to keep you from moving. Where you replay every moment of the incident in the present, thinking it's happening again. It's particularly common in soldiers coming home from the battlefield or those who went through natural disasters," said Hermione.

Lal couldn't look anyone in the eyes, though she squeezed Colonello's hand.

"The war never left me, and being in England only made it worse. It felt like I was suffocating every moment I was here."

"You could have stayed," said Ron, openly hurt. "We could have helped."

"No, you really couldn't."

Everyone save the Arcobaleno turned to Hermione.

"Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is incredibly hard to treat under normal conditions, and it's a mental condition...something wizards are reluctant to even acknowledge exists, much less bother to treat. Just look at the Longbottoms!" said Hermione in disgust. "Leaving England was a much better move, since it meant she wasn't around so many triggers...though I do wish you would have _said_ something before you just left us like that."

"To be fair, I didn't even know what was wrong with me until one of the base doctors diagnosed it after an episode," said Lal. "On an unrelated note I finally found out why I hated being caged so much. One of my soul fire colors is amethyst."

Hermione blinked, before she groaned.

"That explains so much, even if Divination is full of nonsense," she said in exasperation.

"Amethyst?" said Reborn.

"It's the way magicals designate Dying Will Flames. Ruby for Storm, Agate for Sky, Topaz for Sun, Emerald for Lightning, Sapphire for Rain, Spinel for Mist, and Amethyst for Cloud," said Viper.

"Really?"

"Like designating Flames by natural weather conditions is any less odd," Lal shot back.

It was so weird, being back. Sadly it felt _exactly_ as though nothing had really changed.

* * *

"I hate the English magicals. They're so... annoying," said Viper.

Lal rolled her eyes.

"Try being their damn savior," she shot back. "How did the meeting with the goblins go?"

"Good news, they didn't confiscate your vaults or fine you to high heavens. Bad news, they need proof I'm your new accountant and financial adviser before I'm cleared to see the full damage."

"...You're kidding."

"Fortunately for you, goblins are _slightly_ more merciful than wizards. That and the fact the Italians apparently weren't entirely stupid and shared the fact you were diagnosed with PTSD helped your case. So they robbed Dumbledore's vaults and most of the administration during the war to pay for the damages you caused. It also doesn't help that you were kept deliberately ignorant by an older Sky. You might not have known about Flames at the time, but they recognized the signs."

Lal looked relieved. That was one headache she wouldn't have to deal with.

"Of course it could be that they're a little more inclined to trust you since you openly returned the Sword of Gryffindor to them, when Dumbledore claimed he didn't have it."

"Somehow I believe that. But I have the feeling they're still pissed with me about the whole thing."

"They are, but they're at least willing to help you move all your holdings and gold out of their vaults before they robbed you. You _did_ break into their bank and steal a dragon," agreed Viper.

Lal's smile was frigid and very thin.

"I'll give you twenty-five percent in exchange for your help moving the gold."

"Deal," said Viper immediately. The Potters, before James, were all savvy investors and gold prices were at an all time high. Which meant she would be making a _very_ nice profit from this for relatively little effort.

 _Five hours later..._

"Dear god... what exactly is all this?" said a voice. It was Reborn.

"Oh good, you're here. Come help us unravel this mess," said Lal with false cheer. He heard a groan and saw Colonello out cold on the sofa. So was Hermione, funnily enough.

"Tell me what the hell I'm looking at first," said Reborn sharply.

"Her accounts, going back at least thirty years. As you can see, they're an absolute mess at the moment. Forget trying to move the gold, we need to track down where so much of it went and get it back," said Viper flatly.

"What's with them?"

"Hermione is good at Arithimancy, but she's been slacking and this is more than just balancing her checkbook. Forensic accounting is not her forte," said Lal cheerfully.

Reborn smirked at the blond.

"What about him?"

"He still in shock at the fact I'm actually rich and that I'm literally a noble who's been knighted. He knew I was Potter before, but it never really hit him until now," she said amused.

Reborn grinned evilly at that.

"That's not why I'm on the couch. Just looking at all that math makes my head hurt. That and the damn fan base you have!" he said with a groan.

Ever since he introduced himself as Lal's husband, her family had been giving no end of grief. Thank god they bought the excuse that he had yet to find where their rings went, and that they were planning to 'renew their vows' soon.

It was the most bizarre way of asking her to marry him she had ever heard, and the most entertaining. Par for the course with her life, really.

Colonello was just thrilled she hadn't disputed his claim even a little when he said it.

The fact she had kissed him on the cheek and called him an incredible sap had made his entire day.

The Marauders were probably laughing their asses off at the prank he had pulled to get her to say yes to him. Her mother too.

George walked in and did his own doubletake. Mostly at the fact Hermione wasn't in the thick of helping the trio go through so many numbers.

Finally he decided to ask something that had been bugging him for a while.

"What the hell is a tsundere?"

Reborn grinned behind his fedora. Lal growled. Viper continued going through the numbers.

Colonello grinned and sat up.

"Tsundere is a popular mundane slang from Japan. It's someone who hides their softer side behind a lot of bark and pride. You know how Lal keeps slapping that brother of yours whenever he puts his foot in his mouth and barks at him with all the grumpiness of a general berating a lackey?"

George nodded, already grinning.

"That's her 'tsun' side. Her 'dere' side is the part of her she hides behind that, her softer side. Took me a while to break through her thorns before she let me see it, but it was sooo worth it, kora!" said Colonello.

"The only reason you managed to pull it off is because you have more balls than brains!" said Lal without hesitation. Colonello snickered.

"See what I mean?"

George laughed.

"Whatever you say, angel," said Colonello cheerfully. Lal flushed, before she took a roll and tossed it at his head. He caught it in his mouth and winked at George, who was cracking up.

"Shut up, you idiot!"

"If you two love birds are going to flirt, then do it outside," Viper said flatly.

"Well I have been meaning to show Lilac...sorry, Lal, the shop since she finally came home. I could always take you two with me."

"Sold, kora!" said Colonello.

George bore the fact that Lal and Colonello were now on his shoulders with ease. Even if it was weird.

One of the few good things about the fact that Lal was so popular was when Bill found out she had been cursed with an ancient spell, he made sure the _facts_ were known about what happened and what it meant.

Meaning everyone in Europe and likely most of the other magical communities now knew what the Arcobaleno curse was, and the fact that even though they looked like children they really weren't.

Lal was only happy with that for one reason. No one would be stupid enough to deny selling her alcohol in the magical communities so she could get drunk. She was not giving up her whiskey dammit!

* * *

 _At the shop..._

"So why is it we haven't seen any _wedding_ pictures yet? You know mum is never going to let that go until she sees them," said George, impish. He felt more like his old self with Lal back.

Lal blushed and refused to say. Colonello grinned and had his hands behind his head in amusement.

"Can you think a better way to convince a woman like her to marry you than with a minor prank?" he asked.

George was howling with laughter.

Lal growled at him. Colonello grinned unrepentant.

"Come on angel, you know I love you. If we hadn't gotten cursed I would have asked you properly in your favorite park with witnesses," said Colonello.

Lal felt uncertainty in her heart, but she did love Colonello. She saw he was telling the truth, especially when he showed her the ring he had bought.

"Well look at the bright side... you get to break it to mum she didn't actually _miss_ the wedding," said George.

"Oh gods no. Not until after the ceremony is over," said Lal horrified.

Molly would be impossible to deal with, never mind the other women in her life, if they found out that they weren't actually married _yet_.

Magical England was firmly of the opinion that an unmarried woman shouldn't sleep with anyone but their husband. Their values were still more or less in Victorian times. The only reason why they didn't treat women like crap was because of multiple examples of powerful witches and sorceresses in history.

Never mind the disapproving looks Molly would give Colonello because they shared a bed.

George was still cackling to himself. He liked his future brother-in-law already... the man was hilarious and knew just what to do to keep Lal on her toes.


	9. Chapter 9

Colonello kept his silence as Lal held his hand rather tightly while going through the halls of her old school while riding Gabriel. Phoenixes could carry grown men with ease... a couple of "toddlers" riding his back was cakewalk.

There were so many memories and more than a few triggers in this place. It was driving her poor nerves up the wall.

"Remind me again why we couldn't just ask Falco or Gabriel to send the invitation?" asked Lal quietly. They flew past a ghost. The first one had surprised him, but now he barely registered them.

"Because they don't know where Hogwarts is," said Colonello. "And you wanted me to see the castle... Viper refused to take me."

Lal grimaced.

"My word!"

Her grimace turned into a grin.

"Hello, Professor McGonagall. Or is it Headmistress now?"

"Ms. Potter. It's good to see you again," said McGonagall. "And you know you can call me Minerva... you aren't a student anymore."

"I'll try to keep that in mind."

"So what mischief have you gotten yourself into? Last I remember you were much taller," said McGonagall smiling. She noticed how her old student was holding hands with the cursed man beside her and seemed to be leaning on him for support.

Lal pulled out a broom and sat on that instead. It took Colonello a few moments before he joined her, and Gabriel flew off to explore...and possibly meet Fawkes. The older Phoenix (who was apparently bound to the castle, not the headmaster) had greeted them when they arrived.

"Well for starters it seems my luck is still as bad as ever. I ended up cursed like this," said Lal.

"And the young man beside you?" she asked, her lips quirking up in a smile.

"I'm Colonello, her husband," he said cheerfully. There wasn't an iota of deception in his announcement, and the fact her old student didn't refute it meant it had to be true.

McGonagall smiled.

"I'm happy for you dear."

"Actually we came to deliver an invitation to the Vow Renewal ceremony. It's only fair since we pretty much eloped without telling anyone, and this way everyone can pretend they're there for the real thing," said Lal with a straight face.

The look on everyone's faces when they found out it really _was_ the wedding and not just a renewal of vows was going to be hilarious.

"We have invitations for Flitwick, Pomphrey and Hagrid," said Lal.

"Flitwick is currently away at a seminar in Ireland and won't be back for a few days, Poppy is stocking up on potions, but Hagrid should be at his hut," said McGonagall.

Lal perked up.

"I'll deliver Hagrid's then. I want to introduce Colonello to Fluffy anyway."

"For such a cute name the look on your face doesn't inspire warm and fuzzies," said Colonello flatly.

Lal's grin widened.

"Now I'm _definitely_ suspicious."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"The last time you had that grin you threw me into a snake pit!"

"You were perfectly safe!"

"Yeah, but those damn things went everywhere kora!" said Colonello.

"Quit complaining you idiot! If you don't pass out later I'll show you the kitchens."

If Colonello wasn't suspicious before, he definitely was now.

McGonagall laughed. It seems her old student had met her perfect match. She took the invitations and promised to deliver them later.

* * *

 _Outside..._

"He's huge! What did they feed you?" asked Colonello impressed.

"Lilac, is that you? You look smaller," said Hagrid, beaming.

"I was cursed. Hi Hagrid," she said, hugging him.

He didn't even mind that Colonello and Lal were now on his shoulders.

"How's Fang?"

Hagrid seemed a little sad.

"Fang died, about five years ago."

Lal hugged him again.

"I'm sorry to hear that. He might have been a bit of a coward, but he was a very good dog. Even if he did drool a lot."

"The thestrals will be happy to see you again."

"Actually I wanted to introduce my husband to Fluffy. I'm sure he'd get a kick out of that overgrown drooling mutt," said Lal.

"Fluffy's been doing well, but the Centaurs aren't happy with him. They keep running into his piles," said Hagrid.

"Well I do own a large patch of forest, and his breed do make good guard dogs. I'm sure I could find a spell that acts like a leash and let him have his fun," said Lal.

Hagrid beamed at her.

"Cor, he'd love that! All that forest without having to dodge arrows or the unicorns!'

"What sort of dog is this?" asked Colonello. From the sound of it, this "Fluffy" was one of the bigger breeds.

"You'll know it when you see it," said Lal, she was hiding her face.

She was right, and Colonello nearly yelled in shock.

" _A Cerberus?!_ "he said in disbelief, then he looked at Hagrid with an odd expression. "You named that thing Fluffy?"

Lal was howling, and Colonello smiled. It was normally rare to see her laughing like this, but ever since they were cursed she had started to smile more.

She had been really lonely, and the pain of her lost Guardian bonds had taken it's toll on her.

Even the others had noticed she was slowly opening up more. Which only made their grumblings about the fact she was a Sky start to drop. It wasn't that she didn't want them as her Guardians... the bond was fairly strong, despite the sudden nature of it... it was that she was terrified that she would be hurt, or worse, that they would be harmed because of her.

Hagrid threw the massive three headed dog some meat, and it started eating.

"You can pet him if you want, just don't try to take his food."

"You think?" said Colonello, grinning. Much to the delight of Hagrid, Colonello immediately braved getting near the overgrown hound and started to give his ears a good scratch. It wasn't long before Fluffy's back leg was thumping.

Lal wasn't too far behind him petting another head. Both got a very slobbery kiss from the dog.

"To think you scared me half to death when I was still young and naive. Now roll over you big lummox," she said in a good mood.

Fluffy heard the order of the "Alpha Bitch" in her voice and rolled over, to the surprise of Hagrid. The two immediately started giving him a belly rub that had the dog wiggling and his tail going nuts.

Hagrid was beyond happy seeing how they were treating the dog.

"I like him! He's cute, kora!" said Colonello grinning. From the way Fluffy's tail was wagging, he liked the blond too. Though it was pretty obvious he liked Lal best.

Fluffy actually tried to follow them out of the clearing, but sadly Lal couldn't take him. Yet. Besides, she had to bribe Viper for her help in getting the dog a special Mist collar that would hide him from civilians and mundanes alike.

Hagrid was more than happy to come to the ceremony in two months.

* * *

"You want me to _what_?"

"I need a Mist collar for a Cerberus. Hagrid said Fluffy is getting too rowdy for the Forbidden Forest, so he agreed to let me take him. He's just a big goofball, if you know how to handle him right," said Lal.

"Considering you make grown men sit up and bark when you get going, a Cerberus is nothing," snickered Reborn.

Lal smirked, as if to proudly say "Damn straight!"

Skull looked at her with an odd expression.

"You look happy," he said.

"I do?"

"I think someone is glad to be back with their family, despite having left like you did," said Colonello hugging her.

"That reminds me, Kingsley asked me to come visit the Auror Academy later to see their training," said Lal with an evil grin on her face.

Reborn and Fon smirked.

"Those poor cadets," said Fon.

"They're probably trying to convince you to stay and become one of their police force," snorted Viper.

Lal smirked.

"Wait till they experience the full scope of what I put _my_ trainees through," she cackled. Colonello was grinning just as evilly. "Who wants to join us in our visit and watch the cadets get their asses handed to them from normal military techniques?"

"I'll bring the popcorn," said Reborn cheerfully.

"I'll bring the booze!" said Skull grinning evilly.

"And I'll bring the cameras," said Fon.

* * *

Kingsley didn't bat an eye to the fact that "Lilac Potter" was so small. By this point news had already made the rounds she had been cursed. As was the fact she was married.

However he could never have expected what would be unleashed when the Woman-Who-Survives was unleashed on the Auror Cadets.

Lal was on Kingsley's shoulder and had an odd expression on her face.

"Hey Kingsley, mind if I give teaching these idiots a go?" she asked.

He remembered how well her DA group fared in the battle at Hogwarts, and didn't think there was any harm.

What he didn't see was her Elements gathering on the far wall with food, drinks and something to capture the blackmail with smirks on their faces.

She jumped onto her broom, and her partner was waiting with the others having their snacks.

"LISTEN UP MAGGOTS!"

Kingsley damn near jumped out of his skin and almost went into formation from the sheer tone, never mind the volume.

"I came here to see what has become of England's first line of defense against dark lords, and I have to say I'm disgusted! Look at yourselves! You can't even hold a wand properly, much less take out an enemy wizard or witch trying to kill you! And what's with those stances?! You're positively pathetic and you're only going to get yourselves and your partners killed with this sloppy attitude!"

Needless to say she had their attention.

Lal's expression was firmly set in her Demon Trainer mode. They were going to hate her for a while, but eventually they'd come to love her as much as every other student she taught.

"It seems to me I'm going to have to whip you sorry slobs into shape!" she said evilly.

Kingsley stared as she had them running laps just by barking at them with intent to hex.

"Dear Merlin, what the hell did I just unleash on the cadets?" he said out loud.

"Not just them. She's probably going to inspect _all_ the active Aurors and put them through hell. If there's one thing Lal's good at, it's the Tough Love style of teaching," said Colonello laughing.

Kingsley stared at him wide-eyed.

"What do you mean, tough love teaching?!"

"You didn't know? What did you think she did for the past ten years, hide away with her thumb up her ass? Lal went into the Italian military and became one of the best trainers the COMSUBIN had until they told her to take a long overdue break. And then they found out she had a rare Soul Fire type, so now she's only allowed to visit," said Colonello.

No way in hell was COMSUBIN going to keep a _Sky_ Flame on base. They'd have the familigias coming to bother them in droves trying to snag her. Easier to let her go and act as a Visiting Instructor, while at the same time offering support when she needed it.

Seeing the way Lal kicked the cadets into high gear without a single spell, he was stunned. He'd never seen anyone motivate people like this.

"So she has credentials?" he asked finally.

"She probably has an English translated copy somewhere," said Colonello shrugging.

"Not my problem. I'll have her slated as visiting instructor and let her play with the cadets," said Kingsley firmly.

"And we will be enjoying the show," said Reborn, holding up an espresso.

Lal was busy enjoying herself, tormenting the cadets.

She couldn't wait to get her claws into the active aurors, which ironically enough included Ron.

All this while she was flying alongside the cadets on a broom like a surfboard.


	10. Chapter 10

Lal thoroughly enjoyed the shocked...and highly annoyed looks... of her old friends and family when they found out that Colonello had actually been _proposing_ to her when he openly declared himself her husband. Molly was at least 'mollified' the moment she found out that they hadn't actually slept together just yet. Lal had been working up the courage to that point, right before they were cursed. And while she frowned at the fact that the two had been sharing the same bed for almost two full years before this point, she kept her silence when she found out why.

Colonello was the _only_ reason Lal got any real sleep at night. Between her memories of the war and her very crappy childhood, she had far too much material for the nightmares that fueled her insomnia. The fact Colonello had sapphire soul fire meant he was uniquely suited to calming her down once she got used to being around someone active.

However it was only a brief bright spot to the headache that was still waiting.

"God this is such a mess," groaned Lal.

She was going through the accounts and was already having a massive migraine just looking at the sheets. Viper wasn't much better.

Colonello jumped up to the chair next to Lal with an odd expression.

"What?"

"Ehehe... this is going to be really awkward."

Lal glared at him and he wilted.

"What is it?" she asked slowly.

"My brother wants to meet you," said Colonello.

"You have a brother?" was the duo response to that.

"His name is Adrien and he lives in Paris. We haven't really talked much since the fight with our dad. Ever since our mother disappeared he was really distant to us, and then suddenly there was this big blow out between him and Adrien."

Mostly over Adrien choosing to marry a girl who had a major crush on him, but not because of his fame or looks.

He never really did get the full story behind how they fell for each other, but his sister-in-law Marinette was an awesome baker.

At least now he had someone to help dilute the sheer "love-love" aura those two got whenever he visited. He went into COMSUBIN to get away from that crap as much as to piss off his old man!

Lal looked at her account books.

"Go. Consider it the start of your honeymoon," said Viper. "But take one of the others with you, just in case."

"I'll bring Fon, we can always visit his relatives in China after," said Lal grinning.

It didn't take long for Fleur to hear they were heading to France.

"Would you mind checking in on my sister Gabrielle? I have not seen her in months and I worry," she asked.

"Not at all. She _is_ family, after all," said Lal easily.

Gabrielle would be thrilled to see Lal again. She practically worshiped the woman.

* * *

Adrien looked like a slightly messier haired Colonello...who's real name was apparently Christopher. He had green eyes so very similar to Lal's own, while his wife Marinette had raven-blue hair almost the same shade as Lal herself with blue eyes.

It was almost as if someone had reversed the hair and eye color of Colonello and Lal.

Needless to say Adrien laughed his ass off when he found out what happened to his younger brother.

"Laugh it up, Alley Cat! Lal's got a dog I'm sure would _love_ to meet your ass!" said Colonello, tackling his brother.

Lal on the other hand was discussing cooking with an amused Marinette.

"This happen often?"

"Only when he comes back from Italy," said Marinette, amused. It was rather amusing to watch, actually.

Adrien always acted more alive when his brother was home.

"So, who wears the pants in your relationship? I don't see Christopher just falling for anyone," said Adrien, eyes gleaming. Like he hadn't just been pinned by his little brother who was in toddler form looking far too smug.

"She does/I do," came the duo responses from the two newlyweds.

Adrien and Marinette stared for a second before bursting out in laughter.

"So how did you two meet?" asked Marinette, once she got over her amusement.

Colonello grinned.

"She was my instructor in COMSUBIN. An angel in disguise," he said sappily.

Lal _happily_ kicked him off Adrien.

"Shut up you idiot! You're the only one who was brainless enough to stay in my personal unit when everyone else transferred and the number of slaps I gave you!"

"But they were filled with love!" said Colonello sappily.

"Shut up!" she said blushing.

Adrien was cracking up.

"Oh god, you married a total Tsundere!" he said laughing. Marinette was giggling.

"But in all seriousness, I totally fell for her at first sight. And then I went with the instructors on a 'training' trip and realized she was more vulnerable than she let her students know. She needed someone there for her, and no one else was willing to get past her thorns to help her, so I stepped up."

"Our superiors figured out he was able to calm me down and made him my permanent partner," said Lal.

"Calm you down?" asked Marinette.

"PTSD, a severe case of it. She'd wake up in the middle of the night have panic attacks," explained Colonello. "I made sure she saw what I was doing and held her through her panic attacks and it helped a lot."

The older two winced.

"She is such a cuddle monster though!" he laughed.

"Colonello..." she growled.

Colonello cheerfully played keep away while Lal tried to hex him.

He had already admitted that both him and his brother had attended magical schooling, though Adrien had been stuck in homeschool because their dad made him model for his clothing line.

Colonello had been too rebellious, apparently.

Adrien laughed. He could tell Lal Mirch was very good for his brother... even if she was a tsundere. She might 'attack' him with head slaps or a few kicks to the gut, but there was no anger behind it and she was obviously pulling her punches by a lot.

It was during their rather amusing chat that Colonello let something slip that had the two others choking on their drinks in shock. Lal gave him a dirty look.

"You have got to be joking!" said Adrien, staring at Lal in absolute shock.

"Like you wouldn't change your name and ditch your home country just to escape the headaches of being 'famous'," she said flatly.

She had seen the magazines around the house. She knew he was familiar with her own personal hell, even if on a smaller scale.

Adrien grimaced. He had never been driven to that extreme just to get away from his 'fans'.

One of which was his wife.

"Hah! Like this alley cat would have the brains to pull it off!" snorted Colonello.

"I hate to tell you this but your brother doesn't scream 'cat' to me."

"You haven't met his partner. Stupid stinky cheese eating pest..." muttered Colonello.

"I heard that you brat! At least I'm not some gun junkie!" shouted a tiny voice from one of the drawers.

"Plagg!" scolded Adrien.

Lal put two and two together very quickly the second he said that name.

She smirked.

"So we end up cursed as toddlers and I'm guessing you two got stuck as the current incarnation of Ladybug and Chat Noir?"

Marinette flinched.

"In that case I have only one thing to say... Mind if I have your autograph?" said Lal to Marinette. Then she saw the boys staring at her. "What?"

"Didn't peg you as a fan of Ladybug," said Colonello in amusement.

"I like the fact she doesn't overplay the whole magical girl cliché and shuts down Chat Noir's really horrible cat puns. He's a good distraction and a better partner than most you'd find in the magical girl genre, but she's the boss," said Lal flatly.

Adrien blushed.

"They're not all bad."

"I lost all amusement for puns after hearing one too many Sirius/serious jokes," she informed him.

Because those got old real fast.

Marinette humored her new sister-in-law and gave her an autograph.

"Too bad we still can't get any sponsors from the magical community. We've been trying to update their horrible fashion sense for years," said Marinette.

The French magical fashion scene was only _slightly_ less appalling than the English.

"...I could always introduce you to the Delacours," said Lal. "I'm heading there anyway to visit Gabrielle since Fleur asked me before we left. I'm sure she'd enjoy looking at your work, and from what I recall they're pretty close to the high society crowd."

Marinette's eyes glimmered with delight. If she could get them hooked on her designs, then she could open up a shop in the magical sector and make a lot of money.

 _Two days later..._

Gabrielle was beyond happy seeing Lal again and squealed upon finding out she was now "chibified", as was her equally adorable husband. And then she was introduced to Marinette and the unholy alliance was made.

Adrien did not want to know, he just asked that his wife not use him in _all_ of her male clothing designs. He knew what magicals considered fashion, and he wanted no part in it.

* * *

Fon apparently was less interested in visiting his home country, and instead redirected them to Japan for a while.

By this point the fact Lal was the new Sky Arcobaleno had made the rounds, as had the fact she had been hiding in COMSUBIN as a Rain primary for almost a decade so effectively no one had suspected anything.

The one time a familigia tried to pull something stupid like kidnapping her, Colonello and Fon barely had anything to do as Lal had cheerfully destroyed the entire mansion in less time than it had taken to actually find out who was responsible and show them the error of their ways.

Unlike most Skies Fon knew, who focused more on leading and relying on their Guardians for their primary protection, Lal Mirch was a _survivor_.

A Sky who had gone through hell and back, almost literally because of an older Sky's manipulation and arrogance and SURVIVED. She had fought in the front lines of a war and come out on top, and then gone into hiding to become even more terrifying. With her PTSD, she was an insomniac before Colonello came into her life, leaving her with more than enough incentive to memorize as many martial arts and skills she could get her hands on in an effort to work herself so tired she was able to fall into a dead sleep without dreams to wake her up.

Add into that her naturally large magical core, the fact she couldn't give a damn about the Statute of Secrecy...

She was a one-woman WMD with a vengeful nature when provoked first, and a natural leader second.

Fon smirked. And here he had always assumed that his Sky, if he ever found them, would be _boring_. Instead he got a warrior on par with some of the most famous women in history.

Though even he had to laugh when he heard Lal's comment after movie night. Why Colonello thought having her watch a zombie apocalypse series was a good idea, he would never understand.

"It's official. Anyone stupid enough to let Verde watch this or _anything_ involving a viral outbreak where he could rid the world of a lot of stupid idiots is going to be shot," she said flatly.

 _Resident Evil_ was _highly_ addicting, and Lal fell in love with the main character immediately when she saw what a bad ass the woman was. It was almost impossible for her to avoid sympathizing with Alice, especially since the woman was consistently screwed over by others and still came out on top using skills Lal herself would have employed.

Colonello snickered, while at the same time wondering if he could convince his new wife to wear some of the outfits from the movies.

"What about mecha series?"

"Again, anything that shows most of humanity being wiped off the earth like the _Terminator_ series or the _Matrix_ is off limits to that idiot," said Lal flatly.

She hated Inferi, hence why she had never watched _Resident Evil_ before now.

Her grin was positively evil as she said "Besides, if nothing else we can introduce him to the magical girl series, or even better, the Gundam series."

"I thought you hated magical girl shows," said Colonello confused.

"No, I hate the fact that most of them have whiny, underdeveloped protagonists and some cute insipid side kick that never actually does anything to help save to act as their therapist," said Lal. "Some of them are actually pretty good, and the one I was thinking of would be right up Verde's alley, considering the main characters get their powers from nanomachines and specialized gems that are worn as earrings."

"Are you referring to the _Mai Otome_ series?" asked Fon.

"You've seen it?" said Colonello incredulous.

"It's one of the few decent ones out there, and most of the pairings are yuri," said Fon in a deadpan voice.

He was a guy. Of course he was going to watch a few shows where the main theme was girl on girl pairings, especially when it wasn't something as ridiculous as _Sailor Moon_.

Skimpy outfits or not, there was no excuse for that much whining and lack of actual skills. Never mind that in the end, it's _heavily_ implied that she got so fed up with the negative elements in society that she damn near brainwashed the entire planet into a fake utopia.

No way in HELL was an entire planet filled with the most vicious, underhanded and greedy creature on the earth going to bow down to some twenty-two year old girl with a magical bauble as their new Queen and ruler unless there was something else going on. With how much fighting there was in the world over the available land space and resources, it was really hard to believe they _all_ accepted her that fast...especially when you also tied in religion and sheer bigotry from idiots who wouldn't accept anyone who didn't fit into their narrow world view.

Colonello watched with some amusement and fascination as his wife and her Storm immediately went into a very long, overly detailed argument of magical girl shows...among other things. Fon seemed highly amused to have a proper debating partner that wouldn't look at him oddly for actually watching those things and could hold a decent point about them from a witch's perspective.

Lal was just glad to have someone to debate with at all. She mostly watched them as a way to remind herself why she walked away from magic in a way that wouldn't bring up her episodes or nightmares. Most of the "spells" or "attacks" on said shows were ridiculous, but some had clearly been inspired by actual magic. Having to watch the heroine go through so much nonsense and still have to deal with real life was a painless reminder of how badly her younger years had gone while at the same time providing entertainment.

Besides, every soldier needed a harmless hobby that didn't involve actual fighting or death...otherwise they'd snap. Even if she was privately surprised Colonello had yet to find her cosplay in the closet.


	11. Chapter 11

Lal was tired and not really in a good mood. While the honeymoon had been rather fun, the return had given her migraines.

Namely because once again, the English morons thought they could order like a dog and that she would cave into their demands that she "do her duty".

While it was great that anyone with experience breaking curses was promptly called in to find out how to break the Arcobaleno curse on them, the reasoning behind it wasn't.

They wanted her to do her duty as a witch and start siring heirs to her family magics...and all the gold.

Not that there would be much gold soon. Viper had _finally_ combed through the last of the financial records and tracked down most of where the gold went.

Now she just had to start turning it into either profit (in the form of cold hard coins) or into favors to be repaid later.

She was so bored!

Next to her, Colonello was adjusting his new toy, courtesy of Verde. A collapsible sniper rifle with an extended range.

"You look bored," said Reborn from his spot on the couch.

"I _am_ bored. I'm not getting stuck as an Auror trainer, and there's no way I'll let them saddle me with the DADA position. And no one will hire me if they know I'm the Sky Arcobaleno...not without tying us down," said Lal crossly.

"Then find something to do," said Reborn.

Lal sighed.

"Any idea where Verde is?"

"Outside, correcting Arthur's assumptions about electricity, among other things."

Verde had been so appalled by Arthur's misconception about electricity and technology that he had taken it upon himself to teach the man. Fortunately the Weasley patriarch was a more than enthusiastic student.

Lal went to the shed and found the two working. Verde seemed to be on automatic, answering basic questions while working.

"Hey Verde, do you have an untraceable laptop I can borrow? My last one got fried," asked Lal.

Verde bent down after a moment, before handing her a spare.

"Thanks."

She took the laptop back to the house and logged on to the deep web.

An hour later, Reborn and Colonello were bored enough to try and figure out what she was doing.

"What are you doing?" asked Reborn. She wasn't the only one bored.

"Seeing how much data I've collected while I was out training," said Lal.

"Data?" repeated Colonello.

Lal hit a few buttons... and they all stared.

"Is that... are those videos of magicals caught on camera?" asked Colonello baffled.

"Yup."

"Where did you get that?" demanded Hermione, catching what they were watching.

Lal smirked.

"The government might be monitoring and taking the videos down, but my program _collects_ them the second something pings on the algorithm. If it's a genuine video of magic being used, then it gets stored until I find a use for it," said Lal.

"A _use_? What possible use could this have?"

"You'd be surprised. I made damn sure that when I erased myself, I had enough blackmail to make people leave me the hell alone," said Lal bluntly. "It wasn't needed, but I still left it to collect."

"Could someone explain?" asked Colonello.

"You really think these people would bother to consider cameras? Do you have any idea how often they get spotted and recorded? The governments don't want to deal with the headache of magic being exposed so they have teams of people to wipe the videos off. But my algorithm collects it before they have a chance to see it and stores a copy."

"I see. You're literally holding the magical enclaves for ransom. They wouldn't understand the first thing about the internet, and they wouldn't know where to look," said Reborn smirking.

Hermione looked appalled.

Lal smirked.

"The hat did want me in Slytherin originally, remember? If I was going to be dragged down in the cage the magical enclaves wanted to shove me in, then I was damn well going to take them down with me. There's a reason why my handle is Icarus."

"Handle?"

"Wait, _you're_ Icarus?!" said Colonello looking at Lal horrified.

Lal grinned evilly.

"Oh yes, how could I forget the lovely sound of my favorite student swearing his head off when I started killing him with one shot every time he resurrected? Some of those were particularly inventive," cackled Lal.

"Evil!" said Colonello pouting.

Reborn grinned.

"Now I have to know," said Reborn.

"Icarus is the name of the best shooter in the warfare MMO's, especially _Call of Duty_ ," said Colonello pouting.

Lal looked positively smug.

"When I found out what his handle was, I couldn't resist hunting him down every time I saw him online and killing him repeatedly while he was trying to fill quests," said Lal laughing. "You kept bugging me for what mine was and I was too busy enjoying you tearing your hair out trying to beat Icarus!"

"Do you have any idea how much Adrien is never going to let me hear the end of this! It's bad enough his wife can kick my ass at games!" said Colonello.

"Look on the bright side," said Lal.

Colonello was still pouting.

"What bright side? My wife kicks my ass at first person shooter games..."

"Yes, but imagine the laughs you'll get when people hear that you married Icarus, only to find out it was your former instructor," said Lal.

Colonello perked up. That was sure to get him a few beers from their old friends and colleagues.

"Can you help me beat the other instructors? I want to see their faces when they find out your handle," he asked, practically begging. Their faces when they found out she was a Sky were hilarious... this was certainly going to be just as good!

No one knew who Icarus was.

"I'm confused. What's a handle and what is _Call of Duty_?" asked Hermione.

"Handle is a username hackers use online, and _Call of Duty_ is a popular video game. How out of date are you that you don't know what that is?" asked Reborn.

"She was always more interested in books than games," said Lal. "Besides, can you think of a better way to force them to back off than to threaten to expose them to the mundanes?"

"You would risk..." started Hermione horrified.

"Well my nickname as a trainer was Demon. Besides, it's set to automatically release all the collected videos and information the second I'm dead and in the ground, or if they really do something to piss me off," said Lal without mercy.

"But that would..."

"Create open war? Cause all hell to break loose? You seem to forget Hermione, I was practically forced into becoming a child soldier from the start. The first thing I did was join the military and rise through the ranks. War is all I know, and from what I've seen nothing has actually changed since I left."

Hermione looked openly horrified.

"What's this?" asked Reborn, changing the subject. He pointed at an almost as large file.

"Music file."

"Music file?" said Reborn.

"Hard to put up a proper rave without the right music," said Lal.

"Rave?!" said the others in disbelief.

"I'm an insomniac. Do I really look like I spend every night practicing the same thing?" she asked.

From the look on Colonello and Reborn's faces...that was a yes. Lal scowled at them.

"I do have something resembling a life, you know!" she said annoyed.

"I call bullshit," said Reborn.

"Just for that, I'm dragging you and the others to a rave this Saturday. Be prepared to bring ear plugs," said Lal darkly.

* * *

"What are we doing here again?" asked Skull nervously.

"Lal said something about a night off from research and work," said Fon. Though he was clearly confused as they were.

"Where is Lal anyway?" asked Verde crossly.

The music up ahead shifted to a smoother, lively beat that had the blood almost pumping in excitement.

Skull perked up a bit.

"Wow... that DJ is really good!"

It took them a bit to find a spot where they could enjoy the music and not get squashed. Being small sucked.

"Oh. My. God... is that Lal?!" said Colonello, eyes honed in on the figure at the DJ booth.

They all turned to where he was looking and stared.

There, on the DJ booth was Lal Mirch with her computer, fingers flying across the keyboard. She had on a pair of fake wings, her visor firmly down over her eyes and a smaller version of her favorite tank top and jeans.

" _Let's give it up for the number one Disc Jockey in Europe... ICARUS!"_

Lal seemed to spin on the chair, before amping up the music even more. The people below were all dancing and gyrating like crazy, as the energy level shot through the roof.

"I don't believe it," said Verde staring.

"I...honestly had no idea she was that good," said Viper.

"Seriously, what the hell? Why didn't she mention this before?"

"For the same reason she kept her silence on the fact she was the one who kept killing you online most likely," said Reborn.

"This is awesome!" said Skull. The music was epic, the vibe was absolutely perfect for a rave, and no one noticed him filching the good booze from the bar.

It was a very relaxing evening...especially since they were able to cut out most of the volume level with ear plugs. How these kids were able to tolerate that much noise would forever be a mystery.

Or it could be the booze.

Lal broke off the second the cops busted in to shut down the illegal rave. She was gone long before they spotted her, and was soon joined by the others.

"That. Was. AWESOME! I had no idea you were a disc jockey!" said Skull.

Lal grinned.

"Insomniac who hates boredom. Seriously, when my nightmares woke me up almost every week I had to find _something_ to kill time until the wake up call. I only practiced my martial arts three days a week, and the rest of it I use to play online. Though to be fair the whole disc jockey thing was mostly a way to supplement my crappy soldier's income," she said. She pulled out a rather sizable number of pounds with a smirk.

"What's with the wings though?" asked Fon.

"Icarus is my handle, so it seemed fitting at the time. Now it's my calling card," said Lal.

"Icarus is a Greek legend. He and his father were imprisoned in a tower, and his father made wax wings to allow them to escape. However Icarus flew too close to the sun and the wings melted, causing him to fall to his death," explained Reborn.

"When I 'fall', I intend to take the magical enclaves with me, hence the nickname," said Lal.

If she went down, then the entire world was going to burn with her. Let it never be said she didn't know how to hold a major grudge.

Verde pushed up his glasses.

"How good a hacker are you?" he asked.

Lal smirked.

"I bet I can hack into your tech in an hour."

"You're on," said Verde, smirking back. (Verde was rather put out when she managed to break into his encrypted laptop in forty-five minutes, despite his best efforts.)

"So what other sort of surprises are you going to spring on us? Are you some sort of incredible singer or musician?" asked Reborn.

"Of course not. I can barely hold a tune and at most I can play the scales on a guitar. But I do have a massive cosplay closet... it's going to be a total pain in the ass resizing all to those..."

Colonello perked up.

"Cosplay?"

"Seriously, how did you _miss_ the costumes in the back of my closet? I wasn't exactly trying to hide them."

"Okay, this I have to see," said Colonello grinning.

"Same," said Reborn, equally eager. If only because it would give him something else to share with his Sky.

Seeing the looks of the others, Lal sighed.

"Fine, but don't you dare laugh!" she said exasperated.

* * *

 _Two hours later..._

She _hated_ resizing charms. They were always either too big or didn't fit at all! Which is why she merely used a shrinking charm on her closet instead. So much easier.

She dug through her collection of cosplay and found something that wasn't too embarrassing.

Colonello was eagerly awaiting to see what his angel came out with, since she looked so adorable with those fake wings earlier.

"Is that a miko outfit?" asked Fon.

"It was based off a miko outfit," admitted Lal. She was wearing her _Sekirei_ cosplay...specifically Musubi. She was even wearing the brawler's gloves.

"Soooo cute!" squealed Luna, practically glomping her.

"That is such an adorable outfit!" said Ginny.

"I have more, and I can help you get your own. We could go to conventions!" said Lal enthusiastically.

Hearing the duo squeals of the girls, Lal grinned.

"Wow..." said Colonello staring. And she had stuff like _that_ hiding in her closet? "How come I've never seen you dress up in stuff like that before?"

"Even _I_ like to dress up every once in a while, idiot! Besides, my rep as a demon would have taken a hit if they saw me in some of the things I have in my closet!"

"Now I have to see the rest of them!" said Colonello grinning. His eyes were gleaming with mischief.

"At least it means I have someone else to go to conventions with," said Reborn grinning.

"I know, right? It's so boring, going alone!" said Lal.


End file.
